Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra The Impact of Yom Kippur On Early Christianity The Day of Atonement From Second Temple Judaism To The Fifth Century 2003 PDF

Daniel Sti:ikl Ben Ezra
The Impact of
Yom Kippur
on Early Christianity
The Day of Atonement
from Second Temple Judaism
to the Fifth Century
Mohr Siebeck
TIIRPIN LIBRAHY
DANIEL STOKL BEN EzRA, born 1970; studied Theology in Bochum and Bern; Comparative Religion and Jewish Studies in Jerusalem; 2002 Ph.D.; since fall 2003 Mandel Fellow
at Scholion ~Interdisciplinary Research Center in Jewish Studies, the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem.
to my dear parents and parents in-law
Andreas StOkl and Herzeleide Stokl, born. v. Schlabrendorff

Joe Ben Ezra and Corinne Ben Ezra, born Shabtai
ISBN 3-16-148092-0
ISSN 0512-1604 (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament)
Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliographie;
detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de.
2003 by J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), P. 0. Box 2040, D-72010Ttibingen.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form {beyond that permitted
by copyright law) without the publisher's written permission. This applies particularly to
reproductions, translations, microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems.
The book was printed by Guide Druck in Ttibingen on non-aging paper and bound by
Spinner in Ottersweier.
Printed in Germany.
'It
_,-
Preface
This study presents my doctoral dissertation "The Impact of Yom Kippur
on Early Christianity," accepted by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in
May 2002. I have reworked many arguments, included further observations
and updated the bibliography.
Having come to Jerusalem from the rather intellectual religions of Prot-
estant Northern Germany and Calvinistic Switzerland, the ritual expressions of the numerous denominations assembled in the Holy City have
attracted my curiosity. Reading Origen's Homilies on Leviticus, I stumbled
upon the amazing sentence: Die propitiationis indigent omnes qui peccaverunt,l ("All who have sinned require a Day of Atonement."), and the
principal question of this book jumped into my mind irresistibly.
That the work disregards the customary borders of academic disciplines,
integrating Comparative Religion with Jewish History, New Testament,
Church History and Liturgical Studies has undoubtedly resulted in many
flaws that will not escape the eyes of specialists in these areas. I hope,
however, that the broad scope and the perspective of longue duree bring
with it the advantage of bringing together a coherent collage of arguments
otherwise scattered among discrete fields.
To cast so wide a net was possible only thanks to numerous scholars

who were most generous with their time, advice and encouragement, and
taught me to read closely and widely. Many scholars have read through
various parts of the work, pointed out errors and inaccuracies, and helped
me to improve extensively on the overall argumenf. All remaining mistakes are of course my own.
I am most grateful to the dissertation's three judges, my Doktorvater

Guy Stroumsa, my Doktoronkel David Satran and John Gager. Their written and oral comments before and after submission have enhanced count-
less aspects of this book. Through many years, they have been most
generous with their time and kind advice helping me to ove.rcome many
academic and personal hardships. What a privilege to have had them as

teachers and now as colleagues. I have also benefited much from the guid-
Origen, Homily on Leviticus 9: I :1 (SC 287:70).
VIII
Preface
Preface
ance of Rachel Elior and Oded Irshai, the remaining members of the dissertation committee.
My dearly loved wife, Dina Ben Ezra, has pored over the chapters of the
book and enhanced numerous arguments with her keen intellect. I owe her
Shira Vehlow, Evelyn Vitz, Ewald Volgger, Zwi Werblowsky, Annette

Yoshiko Reed and Norman H. Young. This book would not have been
possible without them.
Among my teachers at the universities of Bochum and Bern, I would
like to thank most of all Martin Leutzsch and Marc van Wijnkoop Luthi, as
well as Magdalene Frettloh, Christian Link, Ulrich Luz, Konrad Raiser and
Klaus Wengst, who led me into the world of academic argumentation.
I have used many libraries whose staffs have been most helpful, in
particular, the library of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, the Ecole
Biblique, the Bloomfield Library of the Hebrew University and the Israel
National Library, all in Jerusalem; Princeton Theological Seminary,
Princeton University Library, the British Library in London and Cambridge University Library.
I wish to express my gratitude to Jorg Frey, Martin Hengel and Ottfried
Hofius for accepting the dissertation for inclusion in the series of
Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, and to the staff
of the Mohr-Siebeck Verlag, Tiibingen, for their friendly and efficient
assistance in the production process.
The English has been thoroughly revised and improved by Evelyn
Katrak to whom I owe a gneat deal. Working with her has been a pleasure
and an honor. It goes without saying that I alone am responsible for all
mistakes, inaccuracies or deficiencies that may remain in my work.
Finally, work on the thesis would not have been possible without the
very generous and long-term funding of the Dr. Nelly-Halme Foundation,
Stuttgart, Germany (1997-1999), and the Minerva Foundation, Germany
(1999-2001). Many individuals have supported me financially, among
them my parents Andreas and Herzeleide Stokl, Dieprand and Eva von
Schlabrendorff, Jost (t) and Sabine Schramm, and Ruth Roberta Heck-
more than words can express.

Clemens Leonhard was never too exhausted to be a discussion partner,
from the beginning of the task to its completion. In countless cases he

helped me marshal material not available in Jerusalem.
Part I, on early Judaism, has profited from the meticulous readership of
Gary Anderson, Liora Elias, Martha Himmelfarb and Giinter Sternberger.
Jorg Frey, Lukas Miihlethaler and Serge Ruzer reviewed and refined
part 2, on Christianity in the first and second centuries.
Peter Brown was so generous as to review part 3, on Christianity from
the third to the fifth centuries, and made most helpful suggestions.
Stephane Verhelst commented in extenso on the chapter on Christian
autumn festivals and kindly sent me parts of his book on early Christian
and Jewish liturgy before its publi-cation.
Comments by Daniel R. Schwartz on my M.A. thesis much improved
those sections of parts I and 2 that grew out of it.
I also wish to thank the participants and organizers of workshops and
conferences in Aachen, Brussels, Jerusalem, New York, Oxford, Princeton
and Toronto, who responded most helpfully to some of the ideas now contained in this book. In particular, Albert Baumgarten has been most generous and kind time and again.
At different stages of writing I consulted with many other people, and
the book has profited immeasurably from these discussions. Among them,
I must mention at least: Ra' anan A busch, Anders Aschim, Jan Assmann,
Daniel Bailey, Giovanni Bazzana, Adam Becker, Nicole Belayche,
Jonathan Ben Dov, Jonathan Benthall, Katell Berthelot, Christine Beshar,
Hans-Dieter Betz, Brouria Biton-Ashkelony, Daniel Boyarin, Susan Boynton, Rudolf Brandle, Georg Braulik, Sarah Brooke, Harald Buchinger,
Carsten Claussen, Yaron Zwi Eliav, Daniel Findikyan, Jonah Fraenkel,
Guy Geltuer, Ze'ev Gotthold, Yehoshua Granat, Moshe Greenberg,
Cristiano Grottanelli, Paul Hallsall, Galit Hazan-Rokem, William Horbury,
Jared Hudson, Josef Kaplan, Steve Kaplan, Wolfram Kinzig, Avner Kfir,
Sergio La Porta, Herrman Lichtenberger, Amnon Linder, Basil Lourie,
Christoph Markschies, Jason Moralee, Ronit Nikolsky, Lorenzo Perrone,
Gerard Rouwhorst, Seth Sanders, Jonathan Schofer, Shunit Shahal-Porat,
Stephen Shoemaker, Ephraim Shoham Steiner, David Shulman, Gregory
Sterling, Helene St5kl, Michael Stone, Evelyne Patlagean, Michael Signer,
Gregory Sterling, Michael Swartz, Stefano Tampellini, Abraham Terian,
Timothy Thornton, Caes van der Freugd, Jan Willem van Henten, Katja
IX
scher, ?11 T.
The dissertation was awarded the Shlomo Pines "Prize by the Prof.
Shlomo Pines Foundation, and the Kennedy-Leigh Award for an outstanding dissertation by the Hebrew University. I deeply appreciate both. The
publication of the book has been generously supported by a grant from the
Charles Wolfson Research Fund of the Institute for Jewish Studies at the
Hebrew University for which I am very grateful.
Jerusalem, Pentecost 2003 I Shavuot 5763
Daniel S!Okl Ben Ezra
Brief Table of Contents

Preface .. ..... ............... ............. ......... ...... ...... ......... ....... ........ ............ .. .. VII
Brief Table of Contents....................................................................... XI
Detailed Table of Contents .... ......... .... ....... ........ ....... ......... ....... ... ... ..... XIII
List of Abbreviations........................................................................... XIX
Introduction.........................................................................................
Part One
Yom Kippur in Early Jewish Thought and Ritual

Introduction.........................................................................................
Chapter I: The Names of Yom Kippur................................................
Chapter 2: The Rituals of Yom Kippur................................................
Chapter 3: lmaginaires of Yom Kippur...............................................
13
15
18
78
Part Two
The Impact of Yom Kippur on Early Christianity

in the First and Second Centuries
Chapter 4: Yom Kippur in the Early Christian lmaginaire.................

Chapter 5: Yom Kippur Imagery in Gnosticism and in Early
Christian Mysticism ..................................... :...................
Chapter 6: Yom Kippur in Jewish Christian Legends ........................
145
228
244
Part Three

from the Third to the Fifth Centuries
Chapter 7: Christian Exegesis of Leviticus and the Polemics against
the Contemporary Yom Kippur .......................................... 261
Chapter 8: Yom Kippur and the Christian Autumn Festivals ............... 290
General Conclusions............................................................................ 329
Appendix: Yom Kippur and Eastern Anaphoras .................................. 335
XII
BriefTab/e of Contents
Bibliography....................................................................................... 345
Index of Sources................................................................................. 397
Index of Modem Authors.................................................................... 425
Index of Names and Subjects.............................................................. 432
Detailed Table of Contents

Preface ....... ................. ..... ........ ........ ... ........ ........ ........ ................. ....... VII
Brief Table of Contents....................................................................... XI
Detailed Table of Contents .................................................................. XIII
List of Abbreviations........................................................................... XIX
Introduction.........................................................................................
I. The Topic and the Research Question.........................................
I
4
4
6
7
8
I0
2. Methodological Remarks and Definitions...................................

2.1 Different Types oflnfluence ................................................
2.2 Rite and Ritual.....................................................................
2.3 Myth and Mythology ...........................................................
2.4 The imaginaire ....................................................................
2.5 Christian Judaism ............... ............. ......... ....... ........ .. ....... ...
Part One

Introduction.........................................................................................
Chapter I: The Names of Yom Kippur.................................................
Chapter 2: The Rituals of Yom Kippur .... .. ....... ........ ... ....... ............... ..
I. The Question of the Historicity of the Mishnaic Version of the
Temple Ritual.............................................................................
2. The Temple Ritual .............. ................ ...... .. ......... .. ..... .. ......... .....
2.1 The Preparation Rites ...... ............ ........ ........... ............... .. ....
2.2 The Entrances to the Holy of Holies....................................
2.3 The Sending Away of the Scapegoat ..............,.....................
2.4 The Closing Rituals.............................................................
3. The Ritual of the People.............................................................
3.1 Between Afflictions and Joy................................................
3.2 Prayers.................................................................................
3.2.1 Yom Kippur Prayers in Palestine: Qumran..................
3.2.2 Yom Kippur Prayers in the Diaspora: Philo.................
3.2.3 Yom Kippur Prayers after the Destruction of the
Temple........................................................................
Conclusion: Prayers in and outside the Temple....................
3.3 A Controversial, Popular Blood Sacrifice: kapparot ............
-j
13
IS
18
19
28
28
30
31
31
33
33
36
37
46
49
64
65
1
XIV
3.4 Pagan and Christian Descriptions of Contemporary Yom

Kippur Rites . ........... ...... ....... ......... .... .. ....... ....... ........ ...... ...
3.4.1 Pagan Texts................................................................
3.4.2 Christian Texts...........................................................
Chapter 3: Imaginaires of Yom Kippur...............................................
1. The Apocalyptic Imaginaire of Yom Kippur..............................
1.1 High-Priestly Visions of God I: Apocalyptic Texts.............
1.2 The Mythologization of 'Az'azel........................................
1.2.1 Allusions to the Myth of'Az'azel in !Enoch 10.........
1.2.2 11 QMelchizedek: Getting Explicit..............................
1.2.3 The Apocalypse ofAbraham: Zechariah 3 Meets the
Demonology of 'Az' azel........ ....... ......... ...... ....... .......
Concluding Thoughts on 'Az'azel in the Apocalyptic
Literature ...... .. ....... ...... ......... ........ ...... ...... .. ...... ...... ...
1.3 Etiologies............................................................................
1.4 Qumran: The Current Period of Persecution as Yom Kippur
Conclusion.................................................................................
2. Yom Kippur in the Greek Diaspora............................................
2.1 The Septuagint: Conservatism and Enculturation ................
2.2 Philo's Allegorization of Yom Kippur................................
2.2.1 The Rationale of the People's Yom Kippur Rituals....
2.2.2 The Allegorizations of Yom Kippur's Temple Ritual.
Conclusion..........................................................................
2.3 The Vicarious Atoning Death in 4Maccabees 17 and the
Imaginaire of Yom Kippur..................................................
Excursus: The Scapegoat as Background for Vicarious Atoning
Suffering in Isaiah and Josephus?.......................................
Conclusion: Yom Kippur in the Greek Diaspora ........................

3. The Christian Jewish lmaginaire of Yom Kippur.......................
4. Aspects of the Rabbinic Imaginaire of Yom Kippur...................
4.1 Mythological Events Connected to Yom Kippur .................
4.2 Rabbinic Interpretations of the Temple Ritual.....................
4.2.1 The High Priests.........................................................
4 .2.2 Goats . ... .............. ....... ......... ...... ......... ....... ....... ...... ....
4.2.3 Red Ribbons...............................................................
4.3 Rabbinic Interpretations of Ritual of the People..................
5. High-Priestly Visions of God III: Aspects of Yom Kippur in the
Hekhalot Literature....................................................................
Concluding Thoughts to Part One.......................................................
XV
Part Two
68
68
70
78
79
79
85
85
90
Chapter 4: Yom Kippur in the Early Christian Imaginaire :

1. Christ and the Scapegoat: Barnabas, Matthew and Galanans .... .
1.1 The Tradition of Barnabas ................................................. .
1.1.1 The First Picture (Barnabas 7:3-5) ........................... .
1.1.2 The Second Picture (Barnabas 7:6--11) ..................... .
1.1.3 The Interpretation of the Proto-Typology in Justin,
Tertullian and Hippolytus .......................................... .
Excursus: Did the Scapegoat Rite Influence the Earliest
92
145
147
148
150
152
155
Account of the Passion? John D. Crossan's Thesis .... . 161

1.2 Barabbas as Scapegoat in Matthew 27:15-23 ..................... . 165
Excursus: The Catalytic Function of the Pharmakos and the
Scapegoat .......................................................................... . 171
1.3 The Redemptive Curse: An Allusion to the Scapegoat in
Galatians 3? ................................................................. 173
1.4 The Scapegoat as Catalyst? John 1:29 and !Peter 2:24 ....... . 176
1.4.1 John 1:29 .................................................................. . 176
1.4.2 !Peter 2:22-24 .......................................................... . 178
2. Christ as High Priest: Hebrews . .. .. .... .......... ....... ....... .......... .. ..... 180
2.1 The Setting......................................................................... 181
2.1.1 Sacred Time: The Present Eschaton as Yom Kippur... 181
2.2.2 Sacred Space: The Heavenly Sanctuary...................... 182
2.2 The High Priest and His Actions......................................... 184
2.3 The Participation of the People........................................... 190
2.4 Conclusions Regarding the High Priest in Hebrews............. 193
2.5 History of Tradition: The Role of Zechariah 3 in the Justification of the High-Priestly Christology before Hebrews...... 194
3. Christ as kopporet (lJ.acr<fJptov): Romans 3:25-26...................... 197
3.1 The Influence of Yom Kippur on Romans 3:45-26 ............. 198
3.2 Interpretation of Romans 3:25-26....................................... 202
3.3 Paul's Predecessor: The Pre-Panline Formula Romans
3 :24/25-26a* ...................................................................... 204
4. Christ as Atonement (lJ.acr~o<;): !John........................................ 205
5. Yom Kippur as Background to Early Christological Hymns?..... 206
5.1 Colossians 1:12-20 ............................................................. 207
5.2 Philippians 2:6--11 .............................................................. 211
6. Historical Synthesis................................................................... 212
6.1 The Observance of Yom Kippur by First-Century Christians 213
6.2 The Abolition of Yom Kippur by First- and Second-Century
Christians............................................................................ 219
94
95
97
100
101
102
107
107
109
114
115
116
117
118
118
121
124
124
127
130
132
134
139
XVI
6.3 The History ofTraditions.................................................... 223

Concluding Thoughts ... ...... ....... ...... ...... ....... ................ ..... .. ....... .... 225
Chapter 5: Yom Kippur Imagery in Gnosticism and in Early Christian .
Mysticism .............. ... ............ ....... ....... ...... ....... ....... ........ ........ ....... 228
I. The High Priest's Entrance in Valentinian Soteriology .............. 229
2. The High Priest's Entrance and the Ritnal of the Bridal Chamber 232
3. Philonic and Valentinian Mysticism as Merged in Clement of
Alexandria.................................................................................
3.1 Stromateis 5:6:39:3-40:4 ....................................................
3.2 Excerpts from Theodotus 27................................................
Conclusions and Implications.........................................................
237
238
240
243
Chapter 6: Yom Kippur in Jewish Christian Legends..........................

l. James, the Permanently Interceding High Priest.........................
2. Zechariah's Revelation on Yom Kippur.....................................
Excursus: Simeon and John as High Priests...................................
Conclusion.....................................................................................
244
246
250
255
257
Part Three
The Impact of Yom 'Kippur on Early Christianity

Chapter 7: Christian Exegesis of Leviticus and the Polemics against
the Contemporary Yom Kippur......................................................
l. Christian Exegesis of Leviticus and the Templization of the
Litnrgy .......................................................................................
2. Christian Participation in the Jewish Fast...................................
3. Christian Polentics against the Contemporary Yom Kippur ........
4. Anti-Christian Polemics in Yom Kippur Texts...........................
Conclusion.....................................................................................
Chapter 8: Yom Kippur and the Christian Autnmn Festivals...............
l. The Encaenia, the Exaltation of the Cross and Yom Kippur.......
2. The Fast of the Seventh Month (Ember Day of September) and
Yom Kippur...............................................................................
2.1 The Origin of the Solemn Fasts...........................................
2.2 Leo's Sermons on the Fast of the Seventh Month and Yom
Kippur................................................................................
2.3 The Readings of the Fast of the Seventh Month and Yom
Kippur ................................................................................
Conclusion.................................................................................
3. Eastern Commemoration of Gabriel's Annunciation to Zechariah
261
262
273
277
283
288
290
290
303
304
312
317
321
322
General Conclusions........................................................................... 329
XVII
Appendix: Yom Kippur and Eastern Anaphoras.................................. 335

Bibliography....................................................................................... 345
Index of Sources................................................................................. 397
Index of Modem Authors.................................................................... 425
Index of Names and Subjects.............................................................. 432
List of Abbreviations
I tried to avoid abbreviations. Exceptions are the Septuagint, the Bible in English
translation, rabbinical literature, Qumran texts and Patristic series:
LXX
NRSV
Septuagint.
The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal I
Deuterocanonica/ Books. New Revised Standard Version. (New York, 1989).
Rabbinical Literature
Tractate names are abbreviated as follows:
'
AZ
Avodah Zarah
A bot
Avo/
BB
Ber
Betzah
Git
Hag
Mak
Meg
Men
MQ
Ned
Parah
Pe'ah
Pes
Bava Batra
Berakhot
Betzah
Gittin
Hagigah
Makkot
Megillah
Menahot
Mo'edQatan
Nedarim
Parah
Pe'ah
RH
Sanh
Sabb
Seqal
Sebu
Sotah
Sukkah
Ta'an
Tamid
Tem
Ter
Yebam
Yoma
Zebah
Rosh HaShanah
Sanhedrin
Shabbat
Sheqalim
Shevu'ot
Sotah
Sukkah
Ta'anit
Tamid
Temurah
Terumot
Yevamot
Yoma
Zevahim
Pesahim
The collections are signified by a prefix to the abbreviation of the tractate (as in the
standard German system without periods after the collection and the tractate names):
m
t
y
b
Mishnah
Tosefta
Palestinian I Jerusalem Talmud
Babylonian Talmud
List ofAbbreviations
XX
Names of Qumran Writings

lQPesher Habakkuk
IQS Rule of the Community
1QSb Rule of Blessings
IQWords of Moses
4QI61 Pesher Isaiah
4Ql71 Pesher on Psalms
4QEnoch Giantsa
4QEnocha,b,c
4QSongs of the Sage
4QTargum of Leviticus
4QVisions ofAmramb
II QMe/chizedek
IIQTemple Scroll
Damascus Document
Festival Prayers
Songs ofthe Sabbath Sacrifice
War Scroll
DSST
IQpHab
I QS (cf. 4Q256-264, 5Q 12)
IQ28b
IQ22
4Ql6l (cf. 4QI62-I65)
4QI7l (cf. 4Ql73)
4Q203 (cf. IQ23, IQ24, 2Q26, 4Q530-53l, 6Q8)
4Q20l, 202,204 (cf. 4Q207, 212)
4Q5!0 and 511
4Ql56
4Q544 (cf. 4Q543, 4Q545-548)
IIQI3
IIQI9-20
CD (CD-A, CD-B, 4Q266-273)
IQ34, 4Q508, 509 and 507
4Q400-407; l!Ql7
IQM (cf. IQ33, 4Q285, 4Q47l, 4Q49l-497)
F. Garcia Martinez. (transl.). The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated. The Qumran
Texts in English. (Leiden, 1~95).
Series of Church Fathers and Classical Literature

ANF
CCSL
CSCO
CSEL
GCS
LCL
NPNF
PG
PL
PO
sc
TLG
The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to

A.D. 325; Grand Rapids [Mich.], 1986-1989, repr. of Edinburgh 1885-1896.
Corpus Christianorum Series Latina; Turnhout, 1954ff.
Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium; Paris, Rome and Louvain,
!903ff.
Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum; Vienna, I866ff.
Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten Jahrhunderte; Berlin,
!897ff.
Loeb Classical Library.
A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian
Church. First Series. (14 vols; Grand Rapids [Mich.]. Edinburgh, 1988, repr.
of Edinburgh 1886-1890). A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene
Fathers of the Christian Church. Second Series. (14 vols; Grand Rapids
[Mich.], Edinburgh, 1988, repr. of Edinburgh 1885-1896).
Patrologiae Cursus Completus. Series Graeca; 161 vols; Paris, 1857-1866.
Patrologiae Cursus Completus. Series Latina; 221 vols; Paris, 1841-1864.
Patrologia Orientalis; Turnhout. 1903ff.
Sources Chretiennes; Paris, 1941 ff.
Thesaurus Linguae Graecae [version 8].
Introduction
I. The Topic and the Research Question
In recent years, much scholarly effort has been devoted to understanding
the emergence of Christianity from Judaism and their subsequent interaction. Following Marcel Simon's groundbreaking study Verus Israel,
scholars began to reconsider the impact of Judaism on Christians and
pagans after the Bar Kokhba revolt.' The perception of early Christianity
and early Judaism as two homogeneous blocks has shifted toward a more
differentiated perspective of a variety of competing Judaisms and Christianities with various modes of interaction?
I would like to argue that the study of ritual, as opposed to traditional
theological concerns alone, provides a helpful vantage point for this new
understanding of Judaism and Christianity. The "multifaceted sensory
experience" attained through the performance of rituals involves the whole
human being: body, mind, senses and emotions. 3 More precisely, religious
consciousness and behavior culminate particularly in festivals. 4 The
1
M. Simon, Verus Israel. A Study of the Relations between Christians and Jews in
the Roman Empire AD 135-425 (Littman Library of Jewish Civilization; London, 1996;
French original: Paris, 2 1964, 1 1948). Lately, the influence of late antique Christianity on
Judaism has been taken more seriously into consideration: see e.g. I. Yuval, "Easter and
Passover As Early Jewish-Christian Dialogue," in: P. Bradshaw and L. Hoffman (eds.),
Passover and Easter. Origin and History to Modern Times (2 vols; Two Liturgical
Traditions 5 and 6; Notre Dame {Ind.], 1999; vol. 2, pp. 98-124).
2
E.g. D. Boyarin, "Semantic Differences; or, 'Judaism'/'Christianity'," in: A. Becker
and A. Yoshiko Reed, The Ways That Never Parted. Jews and Christians in Late
Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 95; Ttlbingen, 2003; pp. 65-86); and R.A. Kraft, "The Weighing of the Parts. Pivots and Pitfalls
in the Study of Early Judaisms and their Early Christian Offspring," in the same volume
pp. 87-94. For the study of the emergence of Christianity, John Gager has underlined the
importance in studying those groups and individuals whose identities lie in between what
became ''the" Jewish and ''the" Christian (and the pagan) mainstreams: Judaizers, JewishChristians and God-fearers: see J. Gager, "Jews, Christians and the Dangerous Ones in
Between," in: S. Biderman and B. Scharfstein (eds.), Interpretation in Religions
(Philosophy and Religion, a Comparative Yearbook 2; Leiden 1992; pp. 249-257).
3
C. Bell, Ritual. Perspectives and Dimensions (Oxford, 1997), pp. 159-164.
4
Bell, Ritual, pp. 120-128.
Introduction
Introduction
cyclical repetition of rituals shapes the conceptions of time and place of
impact on early Christianity be detected in Christian literature and liturgy?

Which Christians observed Yom Kippur? Why did others abandon Yom
Kippur? And finally, how did Yom Kippur influence Christianity after the
fast ceased to be observed?
the participants; the recurring commemoration and reenactment of myths

embed them more deeply in life. "In fasting and feasting rites, there [is] ...
a great deal of emphasis on the public display of religiocultural

sentiments." 5 In collective ritual performances, therefore, the individual
has to negotiate between his private conceptions and behaviors and those
of the group. Moreover, the participation in collective rituals -particularly
rituals observed by almost everybody belonging to a certain group - can
render the generally invisible boundaries of the collective identity
To determine the most important areas of impact, and because no one
has previously investigated the impact of Yom Kippur as a complex of

rituals, institutions, myths and theology, I wanted to spread my net as
widely as possible. I therefore considered the Greek, Latin, Syriac and

Armenian traditions as well as the Georgian, Coptic and Arabic,9 mainly
perceptible to observers. 6 Festivals, then, are an appropriate focus also to
from the first five centuries CE. To find the relevant texts and passages, I
relied largely on the indexes of the editions in the main series of Christian
texts (CCSL, CSEL, CSCO, GCS, PO, SC) for references to Leviticus 16.
In addition, I searched the digitalized libraries of the Thesaurus Linguae
Graecae and the online Patrologia Latina for key terms (Day of
Atonement, fast, high priest, scapegoat, kapporet). Similarly, I checked
elucidate the gradual separation process of two religions such as the

emergence of Christianity from Judaism. Indeed, the friction caused by
Christians keeping Yom Kippur in Antioch is one of Simon's central case
studies. 7 Surprisingly, however, the impact of Yom Kippur on early

Christianity has not until now been studied comprehensively. 8
This study is a first attempt to fill this gap. It investigates the impact of
Menahem Stem's and Amnon Linder's collections of references concerning Jews and Judaism.in pagan literature and in Christian legislation 10 The
Yom Kippur on early Christian thought and ritual from the first to the fifth
centuries of the Common Era. In this epoch, Yom Kippur was doubtless
the most important Jewish festiyal in the diaspora and in Palestine. It
would seem, therefore, that it had a fundamental status also in the life of
further I progressed, the more amazed I was by the volume and variety of
Christian sources on Yom Kippur. While I have to a certain extent focused
on the digitalized corpora (Greek and Latin) and there may be untouched
treasures hidden in the libraries of the Christian Orient, I hope to have
uncovered a promising field for further investigation.
the first generations of Jesus' followers. Yet unlike Passover, Pentecost or
the Sabbath, this festival did not become part of the Christian liturgical
calendars. In following the traces of a Jewish institution rather than the
The structure of my argument takes the following form: Part I is devoted to a detailed reconstruction of Yom Kippur, its rites and its imagi-
prefiguration of a Christian one, the present work should be seen as an

attempt to pose a "Jewish question" to a Christian corpus of texts.
naires in the Second Temple and rabbinic periods, with the help of a broad
range of Jewish and non-Jewish texts from Palestine and the diaspora. This
analysis is the basis for the comparisons in the parts that follow, which
proceed chronologically.
Parts 2 and 3 deal with the impact of Yom Kippur on early Christianity.
Part 2 (chapters 4 to 6) covers the formative period, the first two hundred
years, while part 3 (chapters 7 and 8) covers the development of early
Christianity in the years 200 to 500. Part 2 begins with an investigation
into the impact of the temple ritual and the Jewish myths and concepts associated with it (especially the high priest and the scapegoat) on the
emerging Christian mythology about the atoning death of Christ (chapter 4). Chapter 5 deals with the influence of the Jewish apocalyptic-mystic
My central thesis is that Christian atonement theology and its festal

calendar not only emerged under the influence of Yom Kippur (part 2) but
also continued to develop in light of the ongoing challenge that the contemporary Yom Kippur posed to Christians (part 3). To address this issue I
had to develop an approach that would make possible the study of a festival's impact on a different tradition or religion. Consequently, the guid-
ing questions are as follows: What is Yom Kippur, and what are the
concepts and rituals connected to it? Where can traces of Yom Kippur's
5
Bell, Ritual, p. 120 (emphasis added).

For example, "fasting [during Ramadan] sets Muslims off as a distinct community
(umma) in contrast to their non-Muslim neighbors." Bell, Ritual, p. 124; cf. pp. 23--60.
As we shall see, the penneability of these borders, can become visible, too, e.g. if
Christians observe Jewish festivals.
7
Simon, Verus Israel, pp. 217-223 and 326-328.
8
Research has been conducted on such topics as the presence of Yom Kippur
theology in the New Testament or the exegesis of the scapegoat; but so far nobody has
tried to view these phenomena as parts of a whole.
6
9
Being ignorant of Georgian as well as of Coptic and Arabic, I could consult only
translations. The same is true for the sources in Slavonic and Ge'ez.
10
A. Linder, The Jews in the Legal Sources of the Early Middle Ages (Detroit and
Jerusalem, 1997); M. Stem, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism. Edited with
Introductions, Translations and Commentary (3 vols; Jerusalem, 1974-1984).
Introduction
imagery of the high priest's entrance into the holy of holies on Valentinian
Christian soteriology and on the Valentinian ritual of the bridal charober.
Valentinian concepts in turn extensively influenced Clement of Alexandria's mysticism. Chapter 6 provides a close reading of Jewish-Christian
legends that depict James the Just and Zechariah, John the Baptist's father,
as high priests. These legends give some hint of Jewish-Christian attitudes
toward the continuing observance of the Jewish fast.
Part 3 analyzes the impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the years

200 to 500, the second stage of literary production, after the foundational
texts of the New Testament had been written and most of them had
achieved canonical status. Chapter 7 analyzes the Christian exegesis of
Leviticus in relation to Christian polemics against the contemporary Jew-
ish fast. Leading Christian theologians perceived contemporary Yom Kippur's continuing attraction for Christians as a threat to Christian identity
and to the exclusivity of Christ's once-and-for-all atoning death. They responded not only with polemics but also with an exegesis of Leviticus (the
biblical Yom Kippur); they developed further the sacrificial atonement
theology of Hebrews and instituted new festivals to fill the fallow fall season. Accordingly, chapter 8 invt;Stigates the impact of Yom Kippur on
Introduction
The first mode is connected to the collective memory of Judaism. Jew-
ish "converts" to Christianity brought with them their imaginaire, their

rituals, their texts, their myths and their conceptions, especially in the
formative stage of Christianity in the first century. Since most of the
Jewish adherents of Christ probably "converted" in the apostolic period, I
have called this mode of influence "apostolic."
The second mode is connected to the Hebrew Bible, the written founda-
tion of Jewish culture that in its various translations influenced Christianity at all times and in all places. Waves of more intense biblical inspiration
can be perceived, e.g. during the Christianization of Palestine (see next
paragraph) but also in the Carolingian epoch, when kings modeled their
image after David and temple terminology was used in churches. I call this
mode of influence "biblical"; where influence by Jewish literature goes
beyond the canon, I call it ''bookish."
A combination of the "apostolic" and the "biblical" forms of influence
appeared in the fourth century during the Christianization of Palestine,

when Christianity had to cope with the new situation of Christians ruling
the land of the Bible. This had two contradictory effects. On the one hand,
the Christian rulers were now responsible for deciding the way of com-
the Roman Fast of the Seventh Month (Ember Day of September) and the
Annunciation to Zechariah in the Eastern churches, all three of which are
memorating the symbolic world of the Old and the New Testament in the
country where the events related in these books took place. On the other
hand, Christianity had to learn the local symbolic language in order to take
approximately contemporary with 10 Tishri and show some affinities with
over control of the Holy Land. Christians were influenced by the traditions
three Christian festivals, the Jerusalem Encaenia/Exaltation of the Cross,
Yom Kippur. I decided to focus on Christian auturon festivals mainly for

pragmatic reasons, to keep the book to a reasonable length; also because an
influence might here be most clearly perceptible.
Before launching into the research itself, I would like to clarify some
terms regarding the methodology followed, in particular, the meaning of
"impact," the different types of influence, my understanding of rite, ritual,
myth and mythology, aod the meaning of imaginaire and of Christian

Judaism.
2. Methodological Remarks and Definitions

2.1 Different Types of Influence
and practices of the Jewish inhabitants relating to the location and commemoration of events sacred to both religions. Architecture, calendar, lit-
urgy, administration- these are only a few of the areas affected. As I shall
argue in chapter 8, "The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christian Festivals,"
this influence encompasses not only holy places such as the tombs of
prophets but also, for exarople, ways of celebrating the dedication of a
sanctuary according to biblical models. I have called this kind of influence
Ortsgeist paralleling Zeitgeist: the Ort (the land of the Bible) has a Geist
that exerts an influence over its rulers, here its Christian rulers. 11 Conquering the land of the Bible confers new power and authority on the Bible, its
land and its surrounding traditions as foundational stories. The Bible be-
comes the raison d'etre not only to be in the land of the Bible but also to
rule it, i.e. to determine its future, to "make" it as close as possible to ones
Judaism influenced Christianity in various modes, which can be distin-
guished by mediator and period. The accompanying list is divided into two
parts: the first two modes (apostolic, biblical) refer only to Christianity and
Judaism, the other three (adoption, compulsion, reaction) refer to the influence of any religion on another.
11 I mean something different from the appropriation of parts of the Jewish collective
memory as developed by M. Halbwachs, La topographie Jgendaire des dvangiles en
terre sainte. Etude de mmoire collective. Preface de Fernand Dumont (Paris, 2 1971).
Introduction
Introduction
understanding of the biblical stories. And vice versa, the new rulers have
to play according to the rules of the mythical country."
Apart from these two (and a half) modes, two religions can, in a more
general way, mutually influence each other by three further modes, which I
have called "adoption" (voluntary), "compulsion" (forced) and "reaction''
(polemical). Adoption takes place when one religion observes a practice or
becomes aware of an exegetical tradition or a myth of the other religion
and voluntarily adopts it. Compulsion occurs when the adherents of one
religion control the life of followers of the other and impose measures on
them, such as Justinian's edict that Jews would henceforth read the Bible
only in Greek. The third mode, reaction, responds with polemics or selfrestriction to a certain exegetical or liturgical tradition of the other religion
being perceived as a threat.
(especially if our subject is the ritual of the most sacred space, day and
person); the interpretations of rituals, however, can be manifold. Contradictory explanations m3.y circulate in the same group, even in the same
time and space, and be used according to which is more useful for elucidating a certain aspect. Only when dealing with verbal rituals such as
prayers will the distinction obviously fall away.
The interpretation of a ritual may express a variety of different attitudes
toward the ritual itself. For example:
a) Interest in and support for the ritual (by proposing a new rationale)
b) Disinterest in the realities, sometimes in favor of a more spiritualized level
c) Substitution of the ritual on account of temporary constraints
d) Substitution of the ritual on account of theological or sociological
dissent
None of the above attitudes - and the list is not exhaustive - necessarily
entails abolition of the ritual. Modem Christian interpreters of ritual rationales tend to generalize the last of the above-listed alternatives. For example, Paul Hanson argues that the existence of the eschatological interpretation of the scapegoat ritual in 1Enoch I 0 entails a polemical stand
against the temple ritual." Yet, as I will argue, I Enoch I 0 more strongly
reflects the first alternative, interest in and support of the ritual by
proposing a rationale. Philo's allegorical exegesis of the temple and its institutions does not entail a complete disregard for the temple ritual, though
he rather fits the second group. The third attitude is the central one expressed in the rabbinic writings. For each Christian writing we will have to
assess which attitude it demonstrates.
2. 2 Rite and Ritual
Ritual and rite are repeated religious behavior. The difference between ritual and rite is the subordination of the latter to the former, i.e. a ritual is
composed of several rites. 13
By its definition as "'repeatedt behavior," rituals, especially collective
rituals, belong to the most conservative religious institutions. 14 Collective
institutions are more conservative than are those of individuals; and a ritual, which involves the body and the senses, is more conservative than a
conception, since frequently repeated movements are stored in the parts of
the brain responsible for subconscious movements and will continue unchanged in this form until consciously changed or stopped. For example,
one is less likely to forget how to ride bicycle than to forget how to read.
Finally, it is easier to begin observing a new rite than to cease observing an
old one. This, too, is valid for any religion or religious transformation.
Unlike the continuation of a behavior, it is the break with it that leaves
historical traces. Our working assumption should therefore be that most
Christian Jews continued to observe the same festivals after hearing about
Jesus as before - unless we have evidence to the contrary.
I try to distinguish as much as possible between ritual and its interpretation. Ritual acts are more or less fixed and allow for only minor changes
2.3 Myth and Mythology
A mythology is the ensemble of myths of a certain collective. 16 A myth is a

narrative that has a foundational status for this collective." With this definition, myths are o~y myths in a certain sociological constellation with
15 See P.O. Hanson, ..Rebellion in Heaven. Azazel, and Euhemeristic Heroes in
I Enoch 6-11," Journal of Biblical Literature 96 (1977) 195-233, here p. 226.
16 For a rich and interesting introduction to various defmitions and approaches, see A
and J. Assmann, ..Mythos," Handbuch religionswissenschaftlicher Grundbegriffe 4
(1998) 179-200. R. Bultmann, ..Mythos und Mythologie IV (im NT)," Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwar~ 4 (1960) 1278-1282, is a classic. On myth in the New Testament, see now the introduction and first part of G. Theissen, The Religion of the Earliest
Churches. Creating a Symbolic World (Minneapolis, 1999), pp. l-18 and 19-60, and his
references to further literature on p. 323.
17
For such a sociological defmition, see e.g. B. Baczko, Les imaginaires sociaux. Memoires et espoirs collectifs (Critique de Ia politique; Paris, 1984), pp. 11-63.
12
In a sense, this process resembles a development in modern Zionism after the 1967
conquest of the Old City and the ancient heartlands of Judea and Samaria that caused a
shift in the modem state oflsrael toward a more religious character.
13
Obviously, this distinction is relative, since one may often break up rites into subrites.
14
See C. Bell, Ritual, p. 211: "Despite ... evidence for change, it is nonetheless quite
true that ritual activities generally tend to resist change and often do so more effectively
than other forms of social custom."
_\
Introduction
Introduction
historical limits otherwise they are narratives. I have chosen to work with
such a functionalist sociological definition of myth because the distinction
commonly drawn between history, legend and myth is itself a product of
Christian culture and therefore an ernie definition, which is not very
helpful for comparing Christianity to other religions (but has its use in
other realms). 18 According to the ernie definition, we have to distinguish
Christianity, which is based on (salvation) history, from paganism, which
is based on myth, a priori. For the scholar of comparative religion who
uses the sociological definition, legend, history and "myth" (in the old
sense) are only different subcategories with the shared function of establishing the collective identity. A historical event, fiction or legend with a
historical nucleus becomes part of the mythology of a group the moment it
is accepted as foundational for its identity, worldview and lifestyle. The
foundational status is paired with the impossibility of questioning the truth
of the myth without incurring social sanctions. 19 Chronologically, myths
are often formulated in the formative period of the group and adapted to
subsequent times by hermeneutics and exegesis, which in tum reformulate
and recreate the myth. Hermeneutics and exegesis also have the task of
systematizing contradictions between myths.
The imaginaire differs from mythology in being a collection not only of

narrative, but of unsequenced motifs with a much wider variety (including
sensual impressions such as scents, songs, feelings, etc.) and of the associations between them.
All members of the collective share a basic group of elements, and in
order to communicate with his listener the speaker has to use the common
imaginaire. Any member of the collective can play around with the elements of the imaginaire of a concept and even add new elements that will
slowly become part of the common imaginaire. This concept of a common
imaginaire can help explain aspects of the process of creativity and its relation to tradition. While the collective aspect of the imaginaire makes it
conservative and traditional, the new associations by individuals continually broaden it. The imaginaire defines the boundaries of possible associations between concepts; in other words, it is the langue of the collective,
while the concrete expression of the individual is his parole. Or, as formnlated by Philippe Desan:
2. 4 The imaginaire
We can reconstruct parts of the langue by assembling the paroles. The advantage of this approach to the conventional history of traditions lies in its
ability to reconstruct the potential paroles of a certain historical collective,
rather than be limited by extant paroles. This process is similar to Claude
Levy-Strauss' highly controversial approach to myth. 23 However, unlike
Levy-Strauss, I do not cross the cultural boundaries of the group investigated. Neither do I claim to reconstruct a myth that supposedly once existed. The imaginaire defines the possibilities of expression and thought of
a certain collective.
For example, the "German imaginaire of Christmas" may include such
motifs such as Christmas tree, snow, Santa Claus, gifts, "Silent Night,"
family, scent of cinnamon cookies, solitude, frostiness, sledge, church,
heated house, frosted windows, holidays, coziness, etc. Some elements,
such as Santa Claus or the Christmas tree, are more closely associated with
and refer unequivocally to Christmas, while others, such as church, solitude, presents or cinnamon cookies, are more ambiguous and may be associated with numerous other concepts. Contradictory elements such as
Studying collective concepts and their relation and transmission to other

collectives, I found the term imaginaire very useful. The term was developed in French philosophy and historiography as one referring to an ensemble of conceptions of a given collective. 20 Since the definition of the
term often remains amorphous, I want to define my use of this term more
specifically. By the imaginaire of X in Y, I mean the collective repertoire
of motifs of a certain collective (Y) regarding the element X, from which
an author of this collective (Y) derives the items with which to weave his
text on X. 21
18 For such a definition, seeP. Ricoeur, "Myth and History," Encyclopedia ofReligion
10 (1987) 273-282.
19 Consequently, the scholar who investigates any given narrative as a myth in the
sense of this delmition takes an etic view.
20
See e.g. J. Le Goff, L 'imaginaire mdieval (Paris, 1985)~ E. Patlagean, "L'histoire
de l'imaginaire," in: J. Le Goff, R. Chartier and J. Revel (eds.), La Nouvelle Histoire
(Paris, 1978; p. 249-269). In no case do I intend a connection to Jungian archetypes, on
which the work of Gilbert Durand was formulated. See his Les structures anthropologiques de l'imaginaire (Paris, 11 1992 = 1959).
11 D. SWkl, "Yom Kippur in the Apocalyptic Imaginaire and the Roots of Jesus' High
Priesthood. Yom Kippur in Zechariah 3, I Enoch 10, llQMelkizedeq, Hebrews and the
Apocalypse of Abraham 13," in: J. Assmann and G.G. Stroumsa (eds.), Transformations
11 ne faut toutefois pas confondre imagination et imaginaire. L'imagination releve

d'une performance individuelle et se decele au niveau de Ia <parole>, alors que
I'imaginaire ressort du collectif et ne se con-;:oit qu'en tant que <langue> ."22
of the Inner Self in Ancient Religions (Studies in the History of Religions [Numen Book
SeriesJ 83; Leiden, 1999; pp. 349-366), p. 349.
22
P. Desan, L 'imaginaire iconomique de Ia Renaissance (Paris, 1993), p. 9.
23
C. Levy-Strauss, "La geste d'Asdiwal," in: idem, Anthropologie structurale II
(Paris, 1973; p. 175-233).
10
Introduction
coziness and solitude can be part of the same imaginaire depending on the
situation of the speaker.

Any German can evoke Christmas in the head of another German by
mentioning just a selection of these elements, which do not necessarily
belong to the "close" part, i.e. snow, church and cinnamon cookies may al-
Part One
ready be enough. Different groups of Germans may associate some ele-
ments more closely and dissociate others, e.g. secular Germans might
associate cinema or discotheque rather than church.
Yom Kippur
in Early Jewish Thought and Ritual
2.5 Christian Judaism

I pondered for a long time which term to use for the German Urchristentum, i.e. the Christian groups of mainly Jewish origin with some Gentile
fellow travelers in the first two generations. "Early Christianity" is too imprecise. "Primitive Christianity" imports notions of beginning from zero.
For some time I considered "proto-Christianity" as best manifesting the
element of transition, but it too can be understood as close to a beginning
from zero and imply an ideal conception of the first Christians. Eventually,
I decided in favor of"Christian Judaism," a term that expresses adequately
the relation and different level of importance of the Jewish origin and the
new Christian direction. Still, it remains difficult to determine the exact
point of transition from Christian Judaism to early Christianity. I suggest

connecting the point of transition to a self-definition of the collective
identity over and against Judaism itself. Depending upon the place, this
occurred at different times and paces. In comparison, the term "Jewish
Christianity" presupposes that there is also a "non-Jewish Christianity"

distinct from it, which in the first generation is not very meaningful.
"Christian Judaism/' however, defines itself as distinct from "nonChristian Judaism," which makes more sense in the first century.
Moreover, the inversion "Jewish Christianity" does not give the same
weight to the Jewish origin and sets Christianity as main category. In addition, the term "Jewish Christianity" is a set expression (if ambiguous and
hotly disputed) for a phenomenon enduring well into the second, third and
fourth centuries. I prefer to consider "Jewish Christianity" as one of the
developments deriving from "Christian Judaism" after this defined itself as

distinct from "Judaism," as exemplified by Ignatius of Antioch.
JI
Introduction
Any investigation of the impact of Yom Kippur on early Christianity has to
begin with a close look at the ritual of Yom Kippur and its Jewish imaginaire in the Second Temple and rabbinic periods (antiquity and late antiquity). One has to know the realia to be aware of the temple ritual and the
rites outside of the temple, as well as the various concepts and myths connected to Yom Kippur, to discern where each of these dimensions of Yom
Kippur might have iirlluenced early Christianity. One has to be able to distinguish between biblical concepts, the ritual of the Second Temple and of
the synagogues, rabbinic imagination, priestly traditions, and apocalyptic
mythology to evaluate the exact impact of Yom Kippur. Unfortunately, a

comprehensive and critical examination of this question has not yet been
undertaken. Existing studies on Yom Kippur are, for the most part, narrow
in their scope or conservative in their approach to the rabbinic sources, ac-
cepting them as "normative Judaism" without taking into accmmt the variety of ways it was possible to celebrate and imagine Yom Kippur. This
lacuna is too vast to be filled by the pages that follow; they can be no more
than a preliminary investigation, particularly with regard to the rabbinic
and liturgical sources. Many questions could be dealt with only scantily,
and the theses offered are often no more than sketches in need of further
elaboration. To avoid a Billerbeck-like approach, one that would view Judaism through Christian eyes, I did not restrict myself to noting only those
details of rituals and imaginaires that had an impact on early Christianity. I
wanted to present as many motifs as possible that are connected to Yom
Kippur in early Judaism, and only then exaruine what indeed had an impact
on early Christianity. As a result, the present part is not only very long but
also slightly lexicon-like, with many loose ends that I Will not take up in
the chapters on early Christianity. Nevertheless, I hope to have thrown
some new light on the development of the Yom Kippur ritual and its
imaginaires in ancient Judaism.
A study of the shift in Jewish ritual from antique (before 70) to late antique (after 70) Judaism has to contend with the state of the sources before
and after the destruction of the temple. On the one hand, there is the variety of Second Temple sources, from very different provenances and extant
in many languages and translations; on the other, the corpus of rabbinic
texts; and in between the Christian-Jewish texts, which, while still a part of
Jewish culture, already manifest the stirrings of a new religion.
14
I decided against drawing a sharp distinction between the Second

Temple and rabbinic periods. To do so would have emphasized the revolutionary aspect of the results of the temple's destruction. Clearly, the
Chapter I
demise of the temple and its institutions had an important effect on Jewish
worship. I was surprised, however, at the great degree of continuity in the
communal rituals - in the diaspora as well as in Palestine -as between the
Second Temple period and the rabbinic period. Already in the Second
Temple period, Yom Kippur was celebrated in Palestine and in the_ diaspora with prayer assemblies, and the development of the prayer serv1ce on
the Day of Atonement from the Second Temple period to the rabbinic
period is closer to an evolution than to a revolution. The same is true of the
abstinences. Another reason for not separating the analysis into two distinct periods was that the character of the sources is suited to an integrated
analysis. Some "Second Temple" sources - e.g. 4Maccabees or the Apo-
calypse of Abraham postdate the destruction, while post-temple sources

such as the Mishnah include essential information on the period before the
destruction.
Part 1 proceeds from the general to the specific and from the concrete to
the abstract. Chapter 1 dwells briefly on the various names given to Yom
Kippur and the general theological conceptions behind these naroes. Chapter 2 deals with aspects of the rituals in the temple and in the commwrities.
The first section dealing with a reinterpretation of the historical value of
the mishnaic description of the temple ritual is probably the most technical, more easily understood after reading the rest of part I. Chapter 3
analyzes the different rationales for the ritual of Yom Kippur and the
imaginaires connected to this feast in various ancient Jewish groups, in
particular apocalypticism and Qumran (section 1), the Septuagint and Philo
(section 2), rabbinic sources (section 3) and Hekhalot literature (section 5).
While Christian Judaism is dealt with only in part 2, I have included a
paragraph (section 4) on the Christian Jewish sources here, where they in
fact belong. The Christian Jewish sources of the New Testament in some
Apocrypha and Gnostica should be used - albeit with due care - in every
investigation of the imaginaire of Yom Kippur in early Judaism, since they
sometimes constitute a missing link in the development from the Second
Temple to the rabbinic period as I hope to show in part 2.
The Names ofYom Kippur

The three principal name forms for Yom Kippur describe its purpose
(atonement), its common practice (fasting) and its solemnity.
The Hebrew Bible and the T annaitic and Amoraic sources usually call
the holiday C',l~'J;J Cl' (Yom Ha-Kippurim ~Day of Atonements), referring to its purpose. 1 The Hebrew name current today, 11:1,:> 01, (Yom Kippur~ Day of Atonement) appears only in the high Middle Ages. In Greek,
however, the singular form(~) ~~epa (<oii) &~ll.au~ou (Day of Atonement)
exists already in the Septuagint.2 This name is sometimes used in other
Greek Jewish and Christian sources, such as Philo, Origen, Eusebius,
Pseudo-Athanasius, Basil and Theodoret of Cyrus. 3 Philo sometimes uses

simply il.au~o, (atonement) 4 It depends on the author if the Greek word
for atonement is more in the sense of expiation (Septuagint) or propitiation
(e.g. Philo). In early piyyutim the name
;Jn?o Cl'
(day of forgiveness) ap-
pears. 5 What these names have in common is that they indicate the purpose
(expiation, propitiation, atonement, forgiveness) of the festival.
Another fonn of the name, tl1:!! or VTtun:ia, emphasizes the practice of
fasting. The earliest attestation might be in the Septuagint of!saiah 1:13146 In the late Second Temple period, VTJO<ela had become the most
Lev 23:27.28; 25:9.

Lev 23:27; 25:9 LXX.
3 E.g. Philo, De plantatione 61; Eusebius, Demonstratio Evangelica 1:3:2; PseudoAthanasius, On Sabbaths and Circumcision (PG 28:137A-C); Basil, Homily on Fasting
1:3 (PG 31 :165C); Theodoret, Commentary on Isaiah 1:14 (SC 276: 168-171).
4 De congressu eruditionis gratia 89.107; Quis rerum divinarum heres sit 179; De
posteritate Caini 48.
5 See e.g. the Seder Avodah "'Azkir Gevurot 'Eloah" (m7N nnl:U 1'JTN) ("I remember
God's mighty deeds") In A. Mirsky (ed.), Yosse ben Yosse Poems. Edited with an Introduction, Commentary and Notes [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem, lJ991, 1977), p. 150, line 133.
6 This text gives a list of festal days including a fast (.a~ vOUJ.LTJVia~ ilJ.L&v teai <ci
OU~~a<a Kai iJJ.Lf:pav J.LEYiiJ..TJV OilK O:vf:XOJ.Lat" VT!O<tiav KUi O:pyi.av KUi 10.<; VO'UJ.l.TJViU<; ilJ.L&V Kai
<ci<; S:op<cl<; UJ.L&v J.l.lOti i} 'If uxtl J.l. ou). The only single fast in the row of OT festivals,
however, is Yom Kippur.
2
rYom Kippur in Early Jewish Thought and Ritual
The Names of Yom Kippur
common Greek name for Yom Kippnr 7 The Hebrew and Aramaic equivalents are used in Qumran and in the Palestinian rabbinic sources. 8 Some
Qnrnranic texts emphasize the affliction, using n'JYn 1Yln (period of affliction)9 and n'Jl7n:1 01' (day of affliction), 10 which may have a more general
significance (not only fasting, but also affliction) or be moving in the
direction of Jubilees, emphasizing the austere character of the day. "The
Fast" becomes a common name for Yom Kippur also in the writings of the
Chnrch Fathers 11 Finally, the Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum combines the
first and the second meanings (atonement and fast) in calling the holiday
ieiunium misericordiae, the fast that evokes mercy, which emphasizes that
divine mercy is achieved primarily through the fast. 12
The third name underlines the importance of the holiday. The biblical
]ln~lU mtU might be understood in the same way as the Septuagint translation "the Sabbath of Sabbaths" demonstrates. 13 For this reason, Philo calls
Yom Kippur top,&v '~v ~syio"JV (the highest holiday). 14 One of the later
titles of the rabbinic tractate for Yom Kippur, R~l' - the day -evidences
this attitude. The same title also expresses the idea that it is primarily the
day that atones. 15
In sum, three principal names are used for Yom Kippur, expressing its
purpose (atonement, propitiation, expiation, forgiveness), its general practice (fast, affliction), or its solemnity. The Old Testament and the Babylonian Talmud use only names based on the purpose, whereas Greek sources,
Qnrnran, Palestinian rabbinical texts, and the Chnrch Fathers also use
names based on the principal practice of the people and sometimes on the
solemn aspect, too. Each group has its terminological preferences. Qumran
prefers to address the affliction, Greek sonrces primarily the fast and rabbinic sources mostly the purpose, atonement.
16
1
E.g. Acts 27:9; Josephus, Antiquitatesjudaicae 17:165-166; 18:94; Philo, De specialibus legibus 1:168.186; 2:41.193.194.197 .200; Legatio ad Gaium 306; De vita Mosis
2:23; De decalogo 159. Yet VTJcseio: is used also for other fasts- see e.g. Josephus, Antiquitates judaicae 5:166; 11:134.
8
In the famous passage in lQPesher Habakkuk xi:7-8, Yom Kippur is described as
cu: CP. In the Palestinian rabbinic sources, Yom Kippur may be called the fast (N7.l1!) or
the great fast (:en KI:Jl!)- yBer 4:1, 7b, 7c; yPe'ah 1:4, 20b, 8:9, 21b; yTer 8:5, 45c =
yAZ 2:3, 4la. In the Babylonian Talmud I found only one passage (bTem 29a) using this
form.
9
4Q508 2 3; cf. 4Ql71 Pesher on Psalms ii:9-10; iii:2-3 (quoted below, pp. 98-99).
On all formulations connected to n~J:!ln in Qumran, seeN. Hacham, "Communal Fasts in
the Judean Desert Scrolls and Associated Literature," in: D.M. Goodblatt, A. Pinnick and
D.R. Schwartz (eds.), Historical Perspectives: From the Hasmoneans to Bar Kokhba in
Light ofthe Dead Sea Scrolls: Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium ofthe
Orion Center for the Study of Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, 27-31 January, 1999 (Studies on the Texts of the Desert ofJudah, 37; Leiden: Brill, 2001; pp. 127145), who claims that in Qumran n'Il7n always refers to Yom Kippur. I have reservations
about his inclusion of4Q510 and 4Q511 Songs of the Sage, which use nJYn in the plural.
10
Damascus Documentvi:19.
n E.g. Acts 27:9; Barnabas 1:3; Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 40:4; Origen, Homily
on Jeremiah 12:13; Eusebius, Demonstratio Evangelica 1:3:2; Ephrem, On Fasting 1:12;
Basil, Homily on Fasting 1:1 (PG 31:164AB); John Chrysostom, Against the Jews 1 (PG
48:854B).
12
Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum 13:6. In a similar way 4Q508 2 3 cails Yom Kippur
the appointed time of your mercies 1'7.ln1 1l1li:J. Later rabbinic sources are given in the
commentary on this passage by H. Jacobson, A Commentary on Pseudo-Philo's Liber
Antiquitatum Biblicarum with Latin Text and English Translation (2 vols; Arbeiten zur
Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums 31; Leiden, 1996).
13
Lev 16:31.
14
De specialibus legibus 2: 193-194.
IS
Rabbi Yehudah ha-Nasi in bYoma 85b.
17
lI
The Rituals of Yom Kippur
afflictions. As this chapter is confined to dealing with ritual details, the

surmnaries that end the sections are brief. Additional conclusions follow in
the next chapter, which deals with the intexpretations, the imaginaires and
the myths of the rituals.
Chapter 2
1. The Question of the Historicity of the Mishnaic Version of the

Temple Ritual
The biblical account of the ritual of Yom Kippur in Leviticus 16 is the

most detailed description of any ritual in the Bible. This chapter is supplemented by Leviticus 23:27-32 and 25:9-10, Exodus 30:10, Numbers 29:711, and many sources from the Second Temple period as well as rabbinic
accounts, in particular Mishnah Yoma. The early history of Yom Kippur,
the exact date of its establishment and the origin of some of its rites - all
are hotly debated.' An in-depth analysis of the biblical chapters on Yom
Kippur is beyond the scope of this study, as is a complete reconstruction of
the ritual and its historical development in the Second Temple period; the
following pages are to be understood as merely a preliminary sketch. I
have tried to use all available material, the Bible, apocalyptic and Greek
diaspora sources, Qurnranic, Christian and rabbinic texts. Therefore, although not a comprehensive treatment of the subject, this chapter might
constitute a step in furthering understanding of the development of Yom
Kippur's rituals.
The Yom Kippur rituals can be divided into two main groups: those performed in the temple and those performed in the community or at home.
The first section of this chapter investigates the historical value of the main
source of the temple ritual, the mishnaic tract Yoma, arguing that some of
its features can be plausibly explained as projections from rabbinic exegesis and synagogue services into memories of the temple ritual. Discussion
of these introductory matters is followed by a reconstruction of the general
aspects of the temple ritual. Section 3 is devoted to an investigation of the
rituals performed outside of the temple - at home, in the community or in
the synagogue during the Second Temple period and after the destruction
of the temple. While the destruction of the temple entailed an abrupt end to
the blood sacrifices, I argue for a certain continuity (and I was surprised at
this discovery) of the community-oriented cult, the prayers and the
1
19
Mishnah Yoma contains a very detailed discussion of the rituals in and outside of the temple.2 The redaction of the Mishnah is usually dated to the
time of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, around 220 CE. Despite such a late date of
redaction, about 130 years after the destruction of the temple, some of the
mishnaic traditions may come from the time the temple was still standing.
The methodological crux is to fmd out which of its traditions reflects a
historical memory of the actual Second Temple ritual and which are posttemple developments, exegeses derived from the biblical text only, resembling the practice of the Christian Church Fathers. Those temple rites that
are confirmed by independent Second Temple sources are almost certainly
historic. To this group belong most of the details concerning the scapegoat
ritual,' the high-priestly prayer in the sanctuary4 and the bowl- the artifact
that holds the sacrificial blood until it is sprinkled. 5
2 I used the critical editions by Y. Rosenberg, ''Mishna 'Kipurim' (Yoma)- A Critical Edition with Introduction. Volume 1: Introduction. Volume 2: Edition," [in Hebrew
with English summary] (2 vols; Ph.D. dissertation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
1995), for the Mishnah; for the Tosefta: G. Larsson, Der Toseftatraktat Jom hak-Kippurim. Text, Obersetzung, Kommentar. I. Teil, Kapite/1 und 2 (Lund, 1980); for the Palestinian (Jerusalem) Talmud: P. Schifer and H.-J. Becker (eds.), Synapse zum Talmud
Yerushalmi (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 31, 33, 35, 47, 67, 82, 83; 7 vols;
Ttlbingen, 1991-2001 ); the German translation of the Palestinian Talmud mentions variant readings as well: see F. A vemarie (transl.), Yom a- Vers6hnungstag (Obersetzung des
Talmud Yerushalmi 2:4; Tilbingen, 1995); for the Babylonian Talmud: variant readings
in R. Rabbinovicz, Diqduqey Soferim. Variae Lectiones in Mischnam et in Talmud Baby/onicum quum ex aliis libris antiquissimis et scriptis et impressis tum e Codice Monacensi praestantissimo collectae, annotationibus instructae. Pars 4. Tract. Rosch Haschanah et Joma (Munich, 1871) and in the bilingual edition of Lazarus Goldschmidt, Der
Babylonische Talmud (9 vols; Berlin, 1897-1935). See also J. Meinhold, Joma (Der
Vers6hnungstag). Text, Obersetzung und Erkliirung (Giessen, 1913).
3 The red ribbon (Barnabas1:8.11; mYoma4:2; 6:6); the scapegoat's abuse (Barnabas 7:8-9; mYoma 6:4); the scapegoat's falling (JEnoch 10:4-8; Philo, De plantatione
61; mYoma 6:6) and its similarity to the sacrificial goat (Barnabas 7:6.10; Justin Dialogue with Trypho 40:4; Tertullian Against Marcion 3:7:7 and Against the Jews 14:9;
On the discussion of biblical texts, see the fascinating Leviticus commentary by
J. Milgram, Leviticus 1-16. A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (An-
chor Bible 3A; New York, 1994). See also G. Deiana, II giorno dell'espiazione. II kippur
nella tradizione biblica (Supplementi all Revista Biblica 30; Bologna, 1994), who argues
for the fast as the original nucleus of the festival.
Yet the whole tract of Yoma is often attributed to a certain figure

(Shim'on Ish Mitzpeh or Zechariah ben Qabutar) dated to the Second
Temple period or shortly after it, with only minor exceptions regarding this
from the sequence of the ritual in the sanctuary described in Leviticus 16unlike other tracts from Seder Mo'ed such as Sukka or Pesachim, which
deal mostly with the ritual(s) of the people outside the temple. However,
these formal divergences of Mishnah Yoma from other mishnaic tracts do
not necessarily imply that Yoma is more "historical" than other tracts- the
20
'or that tradition. 6 Four arguments are raised to support this contention.
First, the contents of Yoma deal with temple acts that were supposedly
more important in the time of the temple. Second, some scholars regard a
Tannaitic statement in the first person or an Amoraic ascription of the first
21
formal differences may simply stem from the dissimilarity of Yom
Kippur's ritual from other rituals, and from the dissimilarity of the Bible's
description of the ritual in Leviticus 16 from other biblical festival descriptions. Leviticus 16 itself is very detailed and chronologically well
structured; it can be easily adapted and amplified - much more so than the
biblical passages for Sukkot or Pesach. Though more detailed, the eight
chapters of Yoma follow the same structure as that of Leviticus 1610 The
first seven chapters describe the high-priestly service; the eighth and last
deals with the prescriptions for the people's ritual and includes some
theological deliberations, paralleling the division of Leviticus 16 into
verses 1-28 and 29-34. 11
On the other hand, four observations mitigate the blind acceptance of
the historicity of the mishnaic details. Whereas some statements are based
on reliable sources and are therefore historical, others are definitely the
fruit of rabbinic exegetical creativity. First and most strikingly, the Mishnah seems to live in the world of the Bible in presupposing the existence of
the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies. 12 The mention of this artifact
redaction of this tract to an authority from before 70 CE as trustworthy.

Third, some expressions seem to belong linguistically to an older stratum
than the rest of the mishnaic tracts. Fourth, Mishnah Yoma is quite uniform, with few deviations from the topic. Most of the Mishnah is anonymous; few of the authorities cited lived after 70 CE.
With regard to the first argument: that there is a detailed discussion of
the Mishnah in the Gemara of the Talmudim shows that interest in the details of the temple cult continued even after the temple was destroyed; that
such interest did not depend on the existence of a temple. The second argument seems very unlikely. Recent research has rendered attributions of
traditions to named rabbis highly suspect.' The authority speaking in the

first person, Zechariah ben Qabutar, is mentioned only once, 8 and his short
statement appears as an appendix to a general statement and looks very
much like a later addition. He himself is described in the third person and
is not mentioned anywhere else in Yoma. The attribution of the tract to
Shim'on Ish Mitzpeh appears late in Amoraic sources. 9 The third, linguistic, argument merely suggests a formulation of the tract at an earlier time
than 220 CE, not the historicity of some traditions prior to 70 CE.
The only argument requiring a more detailed refutation is the fourth
one, pointing to the formal differences between Yoma and other tracts.
Admittedly, Yoma contains relatively few disputes and rarely deviates
has to derive from Leviticus 16, i.e. it depends on exegesis and not on
knowledge of the Second Temple practice, from which it was absent.

Mishnah Yoma inserts a note to the effect that in the Second Temple the
;J'fll/J;J pM (foundation stone) had replaced the ark. 13 This seems to be an ex
post facto correction of the biblical atmosphere. If the Mishnah were a
faithful recounting of the Second Temple ritual, the ark wonld not appear
10 Some scholars claim that chapters 1-7 deal with the ritual before the destruction of
the temple and chapter 8 with the ritual after that. However, it is more correct to characterize the distinction between 1-7 and 8 as ritual inside and outside of the temple. It is
the structure of Lev 16 that determined the Mishnah's structure.
11 The seven chapters of the high-priestly ritual are divided as follows: (I) week-long
preparation of the high priest; (2) the lottery among his adjutants about the right to perfonn certain sacrifices; (3) the morning Tamid and the high priest's confession over his
bull; (4) the lottery of the goats and the high priest's second confession over his bull and
its slaughter; (5) the three entrances of the high priest into the holy of holies- first with
the incense and prayer, then with the blood of the bull and fmally with the blood of the
sacrificial goat- and the purging of the altars; (6) the scapegoat ritual; and (7) the concluding rituals- including readings, prayer, a fourth entrance to remove the incense, additional burnt sacrifices and a celebration.
12
See mYoma 5:1.4.
13
mYoma 5:2.
Cyril Glaphyrorum in Leviticum fiber [PG 69:588A]); and the place name Beth Hadudu
(or something similar)(/ Enoch 10:4).
4
See mYoma 5:1 and Philo, Legatio ad Gaium 306.
5
See mYoma 4:3 and liQTemple Scroll xxv:6.
6
Henoch Albeck accepts the suggestion of the Babylonian Talmud, which attributes
the tract to Shim'on Ish Mitzpeh (bYoma l4b); see H. Albeck, Introduction to the Mishnah [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem, 1959), p. 71. Y.N. Epstein, Prolegomena ad Litteras Tannaiticas [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem, 1957), p. 37, ascribes an Urform of Mishnah Yoma to
Zechariah ben Qabutar. He is followed by S. Safrai, "Der Versohnungstag in Tempel und
Synagoge," in: H.-P. Heinz (ed.), Vers6hnung in der jUdischen zmd christlichen Liturgie
(Quaestiones Disputatae 124; Freiburg i.Br., 1990; pp. 32-55), p. 33.
7
As a result of the studies by Jacob Neusner.
8 mYoma 1:6.
9
bYoma 14b.
T
23
at all (as e.g. in Josephus) and such an explanatory note would not have
been necessary. 14 However, if the Mishnah is understood as an exegetical
tract, then the mention of the ark is easily comprehensible.
Second, some of the mishnaic details contradict Second Temple
sources. For one thing, Qumran, Philo and Josephus all disagree with the
Mishnah about the number of rams for the sacrifices described in Numbers 29:8-11. Since the ram sacrifices were central rites, such a discrepancy is hardly imaginable for a well-informed source. 15 For another, a
second mishnaic detail, a high-priestly vigil on the night before Yom Kippur, is contradicted by Josephus." Josephus relates an anecdote about a
high priest who in the night before Yom Kippur slept, dreamt, had a semen
emission and had to be replaced by another high priest. It is hard to imagine that Josephus would have related this anecdote had he known about a
vigil. While Josephus is not a comprehensive halakhic compendium, he
came from a priestly family and his anecdote lacking mention of a vigil is
conspicuous. One could claim that the anecdote is historical, that the vigil
did not (yet) exist in 4 BCE, the year of the incident, but was instituted as a
reaction to this incident to prevent further similar cases and that the Mishnah reflects this later stage. How~ver, Josephus writes the story in 90 CE,
after the destruction of the temple, without referring to any institution of a
vigil. It is therefore difficult to bring the Mishnah into alignment with

Josephus. One has to assume that there never was such a vigil.
Third, some of the rites were supposedly secret priestly knowledge. The
Mishnah however portrays (high) priests, its presumed informants, as a
deteriorated class. 17 If the Mishnah indeed had access to esoteric priestly
traditions one would have expected a more sympathetic portrayal of its informants, especially in a description of the most solemn ritual of the high
priest, their former leader. This antipathetic attitude becomes even more
apparent when compared to the praises of Sirach or of the poetic Sidrei
Avodah, which were probably composed by priests.
Fourth, the Mishnah does not resolve a crucial point, one that the biblical accounts of Numbers 29 and Leviticus 16 leave open: Rabbi Eliezer
and Rabbi Aqiva disagree about the moment of offering the sacrifices
mentioned in Numbers 29:8-11. 18 If, for the sake of the argnment, we
accept the attribution of the sayings to these sages of the second generation
of Tannaites, it follows that ouly one generation after the destruction of the
temple the specialists are disputing a central question of ritual practice.
This confirms the impression that exegetical skills rather than ritual memory played a significant role in the formation of Mishnah Yoma. It is highly
unlikely that the most important temple ritual left these questions open, to
be decided by that year's high priest. Again, the moment of offering must
have been obvious to any insider who knew the actual temple ritual, and
even to observers - but not so for someone struggling primarily with the
biblical account, which leaves these questions open. Even if one of the
rabbis was historically right, the redactors of the Mishnah did not know the
ritual well enough to decide between these opinions or to decide which
was the better-informed source. Exegetically, both opinions are possible,
and this is the stage of information the Mishnah conveys.
In sum, some mishnaic details can be plausibly explained as rabbinic
inventions derived from exegesis or from an analogical deduction from
similar rituals, among them: the existence of two instead of three rams, the
discussion about the right moment to sacrifice the ram of Numbers 29, and
the high priest's abstention from sleep the night before Yom Kippur.
22
14
Moreover, the rabbis disagree about various architectonic features, such as the number of the curtains (mYoma 5:1) or the number of the bases for the censer (mYoma 5:4).
15
IlQTemple Scroll xxv:l4-16, Philo De Specialibus legibus 1:188 and Josephus
Antiquitates judaicae 3:240-242 agree on the number of rams being three, only the
Mishnah says it is two (mYoma 7:3).
16
See mYoma 1:4-7; Josephus, Antiquitates judaicae 17:165-166. On the contrary,
Mishnah Avot reports that one of the ten miracles in the temple was that the high priest
never had a semen emission before Yom Kippur (mAbot 5:5). Josephus refers to Yom
Kippur in several further passages: Antiquitates judaicae 3:240-243 (on the ritual) and
18:94 (on the golden garments of the high priest that were kept under Roman authority);
Bellumjudaicum 5:236 (on the white garments); Contra Apionem 2:282 (on the universal
observance of many festivals and the fast). On Josephus and Yom Kippur (especially the
blood sprinkling), see W. Kxaus, Der Tod Jesu als Heiligtumsweihe. Eine Untersuchung
zum Umfeld der Siihnevorstel/ung in ROmer 3,25-26a (Wissenschaftliche Monographien
zum Alten und Neuen Testament 66; Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1991), pp. 72-73; J.P. Scullion,
"A Traditio-Historical Study of the Day of Atonement" (Ph.D. dissertation, Washington,
Catholic University, 1990), pp. 187-193; N.H. Young, "The Impact of the Jewish Day of
Atonement upon the Thought of the New Testament" (Ph.D. dissertation, Manchester,
1973), pp. 127-132. Being of priestly descent and writing shortly after the destruction of
the temple, Josephus is valuable mostly for reconstructing details of the temple ritual. His
interpretations are much shorter than those of Philo; I have therefore not devoted a separate section to Josephus but have included the relevant observations in the appropriate
places. Here, the general observation may suffice that the wording of Josephus' explanation of the Yom Kippur ritual clearly reveals that he was addressing a Gentile audience.
Having discussed the historicity of those mishnaic details that can be verified or contradicted by Second Temple sources, we are left with a third
17 This negative attitude is apparent in the following details, among others: the high
priest is obliged to vow obedience before a rabbinic court (mYoma 1:5); the rabbis consider the possibility that the high priest might be unintelligent or illiterate (mYoma 1:6);
at the lottery his adjutant has to instruct him on what to do (mYoma 4: 1).
18 mYoma 7:3; cf. tYoma 3:19.
_]
group- those whose historicity can be neither confirmed nor contradicted,
observed that the form and content of the benedictions are similar to synagogue prayers,28 and he suggested that the temple service was influenced
by "popular worship," prayer and readings by the spectators in the synagogues of the Second Temple period, which intrnded into temple worship,
as portrayed in Sirach 29 On the one hand, if Heinemann could explain the
existence of the high-priestly prayer by assuming an influence of the synagogue on the temple ritual, it is only a small step further to suppose that
this influence took place "post mortem"- i.e. after the destruction of the
temple; that it was not an influence on the temple ritual itself but only on
its literary description. On the other hand, the benedictions in Mishnah
Yoma fail to agree in detail with those of the seven-benediction Amidah of
Yom Kippur. 30 A complete invention of the high-priestly blessings by rabbis after the destruction of the temple, then, seems unlikely but some of the
24
either because they appear only in the Mishnah or because Second Temple
sources are ambivalent, some agreeing with the Mishnah, some not. To this
set belong (among others): the exact direction of passing around the altar;"
the existence of a paravent to cover the naked high priest;20 the place of
lighting the incense; 21 the number of sprinklings in the holy ofholies; 22 the
fourth entrance to remove the incense pan; 23 and the high-priestly readings,
the prayer of eight benedictions and the two confessions on the bu!I.24
It is to the last three - the high-priestly readings, the prayer of eight
benedictions and the two confessions on the bull- that I now wish to tum.
An investigation of their historicity is crucial to understanding the amount
of reinterpretation in the rabbinic tract and the transition from the temple
to the synagogue ritual, since these three rites are the main basis for Ismar
Elbogen's and Josef Heinemann's claim that the synagogue service in the
time of the Second Temple influenced and spiritualized the temple ritual. 25
The high-priestly prayer after the scapegoat ritual includes eight benedictions: Torah, temple service, thanksgiving, forgiveness of sins, temple,
the people of Israel,26 the priests and a last benediction. 27 Heinemann
mYoma 5:5.
mYoma 3:4.6.
21 mYoma 5:1.
n mYoma 5:3-6.
23 mYoma 7:4.
24 See mYoma 7:1-3 and mYoma 3:8; 4:2.
19
20
25 Elbogen even speaks of "einer vOiligen Spiritualisierung": see his Studien zur
Geschichte des jiidischen Gottesdienstes (Schriften der Lehranstalt fUr die Wissenschaft
des Judenthums 111-2; Berlin, 1~07), pp. 52-53. Elbogen gives the fol1owing reasons:
Concerning the sacrifices, the addressee, God, is emphasized, and the process of slaughtering recedes to the background. The scapegoat is sent to the desert, not to a demon 'Az'azel. With an increase in the number of confessions, the verbal part of the sacrifices
becomes more important. The high priest prays in the holy of holies and after fmisbing
the sacrifices he reads from the Torah and prays. The people participate by observing the
high-priestly act, by responding when tbe high priest mentions the divine name and by
receiving the high-priestly blessing. The overall focus is no longer the sacrifice but its
purpose, atonement, which can be reached also through prayers, confessions and
repentance.
u Some manuscripts of the Babylonian Talmud include here a benediction about
Jerusalem, which was not part of the mishnaic prayer.
21 Manuscript Kaufinann does not read "1i':l!37 ~J!I:J" for the benedictions ''temple," "lsraef' and ''priests," but gives a homogeneous Jist as the paraUel in mSotah 1:7: see
Y. Rosenberg, ''Mishna 'Kipurim'," vol. 2, p. 80. The common reading with "li':l!Y 'J!):J"
probably entered via tYoma 3:18 and Mishnah readings in the Babylonian Talmud. The
topic of the last benedicti~n is not clear, as can be seen through the various solutions
proposed in the commentaries.
25
benedictions may have been retrospectively introduced.
The readings by the high priest immediately after the performance of

the ritual just described therein, seem somewhat excessive.31 Indeed, the
Palestinian Talmud notes this oddness and provides a scriptural justification for it. 32 Of course, such a reading in close juxtaposition to actual sacrifice is possible and is practiced in other religions. Brahmans accompany
the sacrifices with a recital of the instructions, to ensure that the sacrifice
is performed perfectly, lest the actual sacrificer, God forbid, should slip.33
However, the mishnaic account leaves one major difficulty in the ritual
unexplained. The high priest received the Torah just after having handled
the entrails of some sacrifices, so his hands were probably bloody.
Contamination of a Torah scroll through bloodstained hands is unimaginable. That the high priest washed his hands and the rabbinic sources
omit this washing is also unlikely, considering the meticulous attention
devoted to hand washing elsewhere in Mishnah Yoma, the Tosefta and

2 8 His thoughts on these matters are collected in J. Heinema.mJ, Prayer in the Period of
the Tanna'im and the Amora'im. Its Nature and its Pal/erns [in Hebrew, with English
summary] (Publications of the Perry Foundation for Biblical Research in the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem; Jerusalem, 2 1966), pp. 7&--&7. On the similarity of the first
benediction, see also tYoma 3:18.
29 Sir 50: 19. Heinemann rejects the possibility of an influence in the opposite direction, of the temple service on the synagogue. His main argument for this is that if the
dramatic change of the concept of worship toward prayer and Iections had indeed originated in the temple, we would find examples in other rituals as well, Heinemann, Prayer
in the Period of the Tanna'im and the Amora'im, p. 84.
30
The numbers and some of the names of the blessings differ.
31
32
33
mYoma 7:1-3.
yYoma 7:1, 44a.
See the study by J.C. Heestennan, The Broken World of Sacrifice (Chicago, 1993).
26
Sifra. The high-priestly reading, therefore, seems to be a projection of

synaogal practice onto the description of the temple ritnal.
Did the high priest twice lay both his hands on the bull and confess his
sins, or is this an embellishment of the Mishnah?35 Leviticus 16 mentions
only the confession over the scapegoat, but a confession might have been
part of any guilt offering." Sifra suggests the repetition of Leviticus 16:6
in Leviticus 16: II as a scriptural prooftext for an act of atoning before the
slaughter, i.e. a confession. 37 Analogously, from the "superfluous" mention
of two hands in Leviticus 16:21 the Tannaites deduced that all laying on of
hands was to be performed with both hands. 38 Both of these details may
have been part of the temple ritual. But, equally, it may have been the
redactors of the Mishnah who increased the number of confessions from
the biblical one to three, as this verbal act becomes much more frequent in
the prayer of the synagogue39 and takes the central place in the service.
The high number of confessions in the prayers of Yom Kippur40 appears
more justified if even the high priest confessed more than once. Moreover,
the "biblical" confession over the scapegoat is a collective confession; the

"Tannaitic" confession over the bull is by an individual for his personal
sins and that of his relatives. This transition corresponds well with the
move toward a more personal aspect in the synagogue prayer, which includes collective as well as individual confessions.
If the readings, the prayers and/or the two extra confessions belonged to
the temple ritual as Elbogen and Heinemann claim, a spiritnalization of the
temple ritnal itself took place before 70 CE: blood sacrifices were amended
by readings of their prescriptions and by prayers containing a request for
the very same purpose as the sacrifices, forgiveness of sins. This would
have been the first step to a further spiritualization of the Yom Kippur
ritual in the synagogue, which replaced the actual sacrifices with liturgical
poems. According to this conceptualization, the readings, prayers and
multiple confessions continue the high-priestly ritual rather than replace it.
However, in light of the contradictions by other mishnaic rites of Second Temple sources, and in light of the late time of redaction of the Mishnah (about one and a half centuries after the last Yom Kippur in the
temple), we cannot simply accept all of these traditions as historical. The
proximity of the readings and confessions to the ritual of the synagogue
raises the suspicion that they may be projections of the synagogue ritual
onto that of the temple after the destruction ofthe temple, rather than accurate historical memory. 41 It might be impossible to prove that these two
rites are inventions of the Tannaites, but it is equally impossible to prove
that they were practiced in the temple. Their character is better suited to
the context of the synagogue service - as is presupposed also by Elbogen
and Heinemann, who assume an influence of synagogue worship on the
temple - and the rabbis had an excellent motive for introducing their own
ritual into the era of the temple. The burden of proof lies, therefore, on
those who consider them to be temple rites. It is also possible that the
readings and the two extra confessions originated in the Second Temple
period and were practiced in some synagogues but were not part of the
temple ritual. In this case, too, the Tannaites thought it necessary to justify
some of their rituals by contextualizing them in the temple, and the readings and multiple confessions, portrayed as continuing the high-priestly
ritual in fact replace it.
In sum, each detail of the mishnaic account has to be carefully
compared with all the sources available. While some mishnaic traditions
faithfully describe the temple ritual, others can be explained as rabbinic
inventions based on exegesis. Some ritual details matching later synagogue
34
between the readings for the temple and for the

One could argue that differences
synagogue service make such a reflection of synagogue practices back into the temple
ritual description unlikely. The reading of Lev 23:27-32 is missing among the synagogue
lections (mMeg 3:7; tMeg 3:7; yMeg 3:7, 74b; bMeg 31a). But we cannot be sure that
there really was such a difference in the readings in mishnaic times (or before). E.g., the
Tosefta gives more Iections than the Mishnah for about the same time and place. It is
highly feasible that the readings of mYoma 7:1 represent a form of the readings of some
syn~gogue, earlier or from a different area/tradition than the synagogue of the community
behmd bMeg 31 a. Most probably, these lections were for a long time not flxed and
mYoma7:1 and bMeg31a are only examples of some possibilities. Moreover, the differences could be easily explained: A reading of Lev 23:27-32 could easily be conceived
of as superfluous, as the contents mostly repeat what has just been read in Lev 16:29-34.
Fina11y, those scholars who accept Elbogen's and Heinemann's theory that the reading of
the temple ritual was influenced by the contemporary synagogue ritual would have to
assume that Lev 23:27-32, too, was one of the lectures in synagogues of the Second
Temple period, i.e. that mYoma 7:1 reflects some synagogue service.
35
mYoma 3:8 and 4:2.
36
Lev 5:5; cf. also Num 5:7.
37
Sifra, Ahare Mot 2:1 (to Lev 16:6), cf. bYoma 36b. It deduces from a gezera shavvah that the bull is similar to the scapegoat; 1~d' is said of the scapegoat in Lev 16: 10 as
well as of the bull in Lev 16:6 and 16:11. A second solution lies in the observation that
Lev 16:6 speaks of atonement while the bull is still alive; since it is only slaughtered in
Lev 16:11, the atonement must have been effected by something other than blood. The
confession over the bull is referred to also in mMeg 2:5; and mSebu 1:7.
38
Sifra Ahare Mot 4:4 to Lev 16:21; and mMenah 9:8.
39
Altogether six sets of confessions: one set in each of the five prayers and another at
home before Yom Kippur.
40
The Tosefta already mentions six confessions (tYoma 4:14).
27
41
For a similar conclusion, see D.J. Silver, "The Shrine and the Scroll," Journal of
Reformed Judaism 31 (1984) 31-42, whose arguments, however, are not substantial.
I
J
'I"
'
29
service may have been projected into the memory of the temple service in
order to justify these practices and reinforce the impression of a continuity
be able to perform his complicated task. The character of this preparatory

week as investiture is underscored by the purification sprinklings with the
ashes of the Red Heifer on the third and seventh days. 46 The mishnaic
statement that during the last night before Yom Kippur the high priest is
not allowed to sleep is most probably not historically accurate. 47
Yom Kippur itself starts with the offering of the Tamid, which the high
priest performs in his festal garments after having been washed 48 Having
completed the morning Tamid, the high priest takes a purification bath,49
puts on the white linen garments 50 and offers a bnll as a sin offering (nN~n)
on his own behalf. 51 He then makes a lottery between the two goats of the
people. 52 One of them, the goat for YHWH (the sacrificial goat) will be
sacrificed and its blood sprinkled in the holy of holies. The other, the goat
for 'Az'azel (the scapegoat), is placed in front of the sanctuary, to be sent
away after the blood rites in the sanctuary have been completed. The two
goats have to be equal. 53 The scapegoat is marked with a red ribbon. 54
28
between temple and synagogue. In any case, reciting, studying and discussing the Mishnah became one of the forms of reenacting the temple
ritual. As will be shown below, Mishnah Yoma itself was considered
suitable for liturgical purposes. In fact, the closeness of the earliest extant
Seder Avodah to the Mishnah suggests that the Mishnah itself might have
developed out of similar needs and precisely for this liturgical purpose albeit at different times and different places in slightly different versions.
2. The Temple Ritual

For reconstruction of the temple ritual, I confme myself to the basic aspects of the ritual and to commenting on the main differences among the
sources. The rites of Yom Kippur include many cultic acts that are also
performed elsewhere42 or that are similar to those of other rituals. 43 Still,
Yom Kippur has several "unique" features and is a sort of acme of all
temple rituals. Only on this day <is the holy of holies, the most sacred precinct of the Jerusalem temple, entered. Only on this day does a ritual have
to be performed by the high priest, the "holiest" person. Only on this day
does the high priest change his golden garments for special white linen
ones. The ritual can reasonably be broken down into four parts: (I) the
preparation rites, (2) the entrances to the holy of holies with incense burning, prayer and blood sprinkling, (3) the sending away of the scapegoat and
(4) the closing rites. I will discuss the ritual according to these parts.
46 Philo, De somniis I :214; mParah 3:1, see Y. Baer, "The Service of Sacrifice in Second Temple Times," [in Hebrew] Zion 40 (1965) 95-153, here p. 112.
41
Seep. 22, note 16, above.
48 mYoma 3:4-5.
49
mYoma 3:6. The Bible asks for two washings: at the beginning of the ritual
(Lev 16:4) and after the sending away of the scapegoat (Lev 16:24). The extant fragments of llQTemple Scroll xxvi:IO mention washing of hands and feet between sin offering and confession over the scapegoat. The rabbinic tracts mention five complete
washings and ten ablutions of hands and feet (mYoma 3:3) each time the clothes are
changed- (I) before the morning Tamid, (2) after the morning Tamid and before the
Yom Kippur sacrifices, (3) after the sending away of the scapegoat and before the burnt
offerings, (4) after the burnt offerings and before the removal of the censer and pan, and
(5) before the evening Tamid. See Milgram, Leviticus 1-16, p. 1047.
50
mYoma 3:6.
51
Lev 16:6.11. Literally, the bull seems to be slaughtered twice. The rabbis explain
this duplication by assuming a twofold confession over the bull: see mYoma 3:8 and 4:2.
52 Lev 16:7-10~ mYoma 3:9; 4:1. The Mishnah states, two temple officials helped him.
53 The earliest extant source is Barnabas 7:6.10 (beautiful and similar). Cf. also Justin
Dialogue with Trypho 40:4 (similar) and Tertullian Against Marcion 3:7:7 and Against
the Jews 14:9 (alike and similar in appearance); mYoma6:1 (alike in appearance, size,
value and buying date). Cf. also Cyril of Alexandria, who states: Two goats, beautiful
(x:aA.oi) and of the same height (ii:JOJ.1E"r9t<;) and strength (i.ai)A.tK<;) and of the same color
(OJ.16;tpoot)" (my translation of Glaphyrorum in Leviticum liber, PG 69:588A). This is
close to Barnabas but not close enough to prove dependence. It might also hint at a direct
contact of Cyril with a Jewish exegetical tradition. On Barnabas and the temple, see especially the analysis by G. Alon, "The Halakhah in the Epistle of Barnabas," in: idem,
Studies in Jewish History [in Hebrew] (2 vols; Tel Aviv, 1957; vol. 1, pp. 293-312), here
pp. 302-305; and see the section on Barnabas on pp. 148-161, below.
54
The earliest source is again Barnabas 7:8.11. See also the patristic texts depending
on the same tradition and mYoma 4:2; 6:6.
2.1 The Preparation Rites

The introduction to Leviticus !6 lists the conditions for the entrance to the
holy of holies: preparing certain animals,44 washing the body and putting
on linen gannents.45
Going well beyond the biblical regulations, the first chapter of Mishnah
Yoma describes a week of preparation during which the high priest is
isolated (to avoid contamination) and carefully schooled so that he will to
42
E.g., the sin offering and the burnt offering or blood sprinkling.
43
E.g., the offering of the two goats is similar to the two birds in Lev 14.
44 Lev 16 lists a bull, two goats and two rams. Num 29:7-11 lists a bull, a ram and
seven lambs, and a third goat. On the different answers to the question of whether this
ram is one of the rams of Lev 16, see below, p. 31.
45
The linen garments are described in Lev 16:4 (tunic, leggings, sash, turban) and
their value is discussed in mYoma 3:7.
Il
T
30
2. 2 The Entrances to the Holy of Holies
31
to the Mishnah, a fourth entry took place after the scapegoat ritual in order
to remove the censer, which was supposed to have been left there during
the blood-sprinkling rite. 66
The holy of holies is entered three or four times. 55 During the first entry, 56
the high priest burns especially fine incense. 57 The rabbinic sources dispute
at length the question of where the high priest was supposed to light the
incense, inside or outside the sanctuary. 58 The latter is presented as the
position of the Sadducees (Sifra, Talmudim) and Boethusians (Tosefta),
while the former opinion is connected to the Pharisees, who are clearly
presented as superior. Philo's description of the rite might support the Sadducean case. 59 Given that the high priesthood was mostly in the hands of
Sadducees, they probably knew the ritual better and represented the original performance, whereas the Pharisaic position is either an innovation
or theoretical polemics. Philo and the rabbinic sources add that the high
priest also says an intercessionary prayer in the sanctuary. 60 For the second
entry the high priest, taking part of the blood of the bull in a golden
bowl,' 1 enters and sprinkles it with his fingers on and before the
kapporet. 62 He then leaves, slaughters the sacrificial goat and takes its
blood for the third entrance and further sprinkling as before. 63 He similarly
sprinkles the sanctuary64 and daubs and sprinkles the incense and the sacrificial altars with a mixture of the hull's and the goat's blood. 65 According
2.3 The Sending Away of the Scapegoat

After the lottery between the people's two goats and the three entries to the
holy of holies,'' the high priest returns to the scapegoat, lays both his
hands on its head and delivers a collective confession 68 He then hands the
scapegoat over to an adjutant, who escorts it to the desert. 69 The scapegoat
is maltreated on its way out of the city70 and ultimately killed by being
thrown from a precipice in the desert, 71 at a place called something like
Bet Haduri. 72
2.4 The Closing Rituals
After sending the scapegoat away the high priest takes a bath and changes
into the golden garments 73 He then offers two rams for himself and for
the people as burnt offerings. 74 At this moment, he probably also offers the
offerings mentioned in Numbers 29:7-11, a bull, another ram,75 and seven
66 mYoma 1:4. Ancient eastern parallels make such an entrance probable: see Milgram, Leviticus 1-16, pp. 1015 and 1068.
67 llQTemple Scroll xxvi:lO reports that the high priest washed his hands and feet
from the blood of the sacrificial goat before approaching the scapegoat.
68 Lev 16:21a; mYoma 6:2.
69 Lev 16:2lb; mYoma 6:3.
70 Barnabas 1:8 "spit on it, and pierce it," cursing; Tertullian: "cursed, spit upon,
pulled around, and pierced, and driven by the people out of the city" (Against Marcion
3:7:7=Against the Jews 14:9). mYoma 6:4: pulling hair, cursing "bear [our sins] and be
gone!"
71 For the fall, see !Enoch 10:4-8; Philo, De p/antatione 61; mYoma 6:6. For the killing, see mYoma 6:6; Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 40:4. From the rule that the high priest
could continue the ritual upon the message that the scapegoat had reached the desert (and
not that the scapegoat was killed), Milgrom deduces that the killing was not essential:
Milgram, Leviticus 1-16, p. 1045.
n For the name, see also I Enoch 10:4 and the discussion of this passage p. 88, note
n'J /1111i1 nJ. in
44, below. On the variant readings ~11,., n:J /nni1 ll'J I nn<T n~J
the Mishnah and the Talmudim, see Rabbinovicz, Diqduqey Soferim, vol. 4 pp. 193-194;
and Yehoshua Rosenberg's critical edition of the Mishnah tractate Yoma, vol. 1, p. 76.
73
Lev l6:23-24a.
74
Lev 16:24b. The Mishnah has the burning of the remains of the sacrificial goat and
the high priest's bull before the washing and changing of clothes (mYoma 6:7; 7:2). Such
a sequence is possible: see Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16, pp. 1046-48.
15
From the Bible it is not clear ifNum 29:8 refers to the same ram as Lev 16:3.5 or to
a third ram. The sacrifice of this third ram is confirmed by all relevant Second Temple
sources (11QTemp/e Scroll xxv:l2-16; Josephus, Antiquitates judaicae 3:240-243;
55
Philo and Hebrews emphasize that the holy of holies was entered only once a year.
This has to be understood in context as an intensification of their polemical and typological arguments.
56 According to a Christian or Gnostic tradition, which may well be based on Jewish
traditions, the high priest wore the f'3 on entering the sanctuary, removing it only for entering the holy of holies. See Clement of Alexandria, Excerpts from Theodotus 21 (discussed below on pp. 240--243); and N. Bezalel, "Clement of Alexandria on an Unknown
Custom in the Temple Service of the Day of Atonement" [in Hebrew] Sinai 103
(1989) 177-178.
51 Lev 1612-13 mYoma 51
58 tYoma i:8; sJ,.a, Ahare M~t 3;yYoma 1:5, 39a-b; bYoma 53 a. See J.Z. Lauterbach,
"A Significant Controversy between the Sadducees and the Pharisees," Hebrew Union
College Annua/4 (1927) 173-205; Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16, pp. 1028-1031.
59 De specialibus /egibus 1:72. This would support the thesis that Philo was of priestly
descent: D.R. Schwartz, "Philo's Priestly Descent," in: F.E. Greenspahn, E. Hilgert and
B.L. Mack (eds.), Nourished with Peace (Chico, 1984; pp. 155-171).
60 Legatio ad Gaium 306; mYoma 5:1.
61 This item is mentioned by llQTemple Scrollxxv:6 and mYoma 4:3; 5:4, though the
Tannaitic sources do not describe it as golden. This may perhaps be concluded from the
description of the golden incense pan (mYoma 4:4), cf Y. Yadin (ed.), The Temple Scroll
(3 vols; Jerusalem, 1983), p. 116.
62 Lev 16:14; mYoma 5:3. On this item, see below, pp. 104-105.
63
Lev 16:15; mYoma 5:4.
64 Lev 16:16. In the Mishnah this has become the altar.
65 Lev 16:18-19; cf. Exod 30:10; mYoma 5:5--6.
I,,.,
I
I
.
.
32

76
lambs. A third goat is eaten by the priests as a sin offering. 77 The

carcasses of the bull and the sacrificial goat, whose blood was sprinkled in
the holy of holies, are then burned by an adjutant at a special holy place
outside the temple. 78 The Mishnah includes a high-priestly Torah reading
and prayer, but the former may have been added later to justify existing
synagogue practice. 79
The long series of sacrifices ends with the evening Tamid. 80 Sirach
gives a quite detailed description of the evening Tarnid that might be the
end of the temple service of Yom Kippur 81 He refers to the burnt sacrifice" and its libation. 83 On hearing the sound of the trmnpets84 the people
prostrate themselves, 85 the high priest blesses the congregation86 and the
people fall down again. 87 According to Sirach, at least this part of the serPhilo, De specia/ibus legibus 1:188). The discussion in the rabbinic sources leaves both
possibilities open (hYoma 70b; Sifra Ahare Mot 2:2). This case demonstrates how careful
one has to b_e_ when using rabbinic sources for reconstructing the temple ritual, when numerous trad1t10ns may be simply based on exegesis and developed from (later) ideas and
regulations. See above, pp. 21-28.
76
Num 29:8-10. The rabbinic so~ces contain a dispute over the correct moment to
offer the burnt offerings mentioned in Num 29:8-10. The opinion accepted here is that of
Rabbi Eliezer, who agrees with liQTemple Scroll xxvii:3-4. Rabbi Aqiva claims that
they were offered during the morning Tamid, while the two rams were burnt offerings
during the evening Tamid (mYoma 7:3-4). See above, p. 23.
n Num29:Il; the lectio difficilior in Philo, De specialibus /egibus 1:190; Barnabas
7:4-5; mMenah ll:7; bMenah lOOa. Mishnah Yoma skips the sin offering of the third
goat.
78
Lev 16:24b-25.27.
79
See above, pp. 25-26.
80
mYoma 7:4. See above, p. 32, note 76 for the deviant opinion of Rabbi Aqiva.
81
While Sir 50:5-21 has frequently been explained as depicting Yom Kippur in the
temple, especially for its closeness to piyyutim in the synagogue service (C. Roth
"Ecclesiasticus in the Synagogue Service," Journal ofBiblical Literature 71 [1952] 171_:
178), Shmuel Safrai and after him F. O'Fearghail reached the conclusion that Sirach refers !o ~e daily offering and not to Yom Kippur. SeeS. Safrai, "On the History of the
Service m the Second Temple" [in Hebrew] Mehkare Eretz Yisrae/ (1955) 35-41;
F. O'Fearghail, "Sir. 50:5-21: Yom Kippur or the Daily Whole Offering," Biblica 69
(19~8) 301-316. However, a Tamid was offered also on Yom Kippur and the description
of Srrach has an especially solemn aura, which might well point to the evening Tamid at
the end of the Yom Kippur celebrations. I use Sirach only with reservations.
82
Sir 50:12-14; mTamid7:3.
83
Sir 50:15; mTamid7:3.
84
Sir 50:16; mTamid1:3.
85
Sir 50:17. Mishnah Tamid mentions trumpet playing and prostrations in every break
of the Levitical singing (mTamid7:3).
86
Sir 50:20; cf. 'Asapper Gedolot (ed. Mirsky, p. 202,line 197).
87
Sir50:21;mYoma7:3.
~~
;s~r
--~
33
vice was accompanied by songs of the singers and prayers o( the people. 88
The mishnaic description of the temple ritual closes with a celebration organized by the high priest for his friends after "leaving the holy of holies
in peace. " 89
3. The Rituals of the People
-f
.f
The rituals of the people mainly comprise various sorts of afflictions and
long communal prayers. This is the same in the diaspora and in Palestine
before and after the destruction of the temple. The afflictions differ among
the communities. As we shall see, some choose a more active direction
with mourning (Jubilees, Festival Prayers) or a vigil (Jubilees, Pirqe
Rabbi Eliezer) or standing (Philo, Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer); others are more
lenient.
Some communal Yom Kippur prayers of the Second Temple period
have survived in Philo and the Festival Prayers found in Qumran. Daniel
Falk has convincingly argued that most of the Qumran Festival Prayers
were probably used outside the sect. Yet the Festival Prayers that can be
plausibly identified as belonging to Yom Kippur number more than the
five determined by Falk. That manna is used both in a Yom Kippur prayer
by Philo and by the Festival Prayers may point to an early common
tradition in the communal prayers of Yom Kippur in the land of Israel and
the diaspora. 90
It is not clear to what extent Second Temple Judaism already performed
ritual reenactments of the temple ritual outside the temple. The prayer service included supplications, praises and most probably confessions. A liturgical reenactment of the high-priestly ritual by reading the biblical
descriptions or related texts is possible in the Second Temple period,
though decisive evidence for this is still missing. In rabbinic times, the
temple ritual is solemnly reenacted by the Seder Avodah in the synagogue
liturgy and by the popular sacrifice of the kapparot at home .
3.1 Between Afflictions and Joy

The Bible commands the people to do only two things: to abstain from
work and to "afflict their sonls" (<V~J '1l'P) without specifying what is
88
Sir 50:18-19, cf. mYoma 7:1 (high-priestly reading); tYoma 3:18 (people reading).
mYoma 7:4.
90
Or to the same exegetical tradition combining Lev 16:29.31 and Deut 8:3. See
bYoma 74b; and see the pages 41, 47, 97, below.
89
meant by the latter.91 The Second Temple sources interpret this as fasting.92 The Mishnah gives a detailed list of six abstentions: food, drink, sex,
sandals, washing and oiling. 93 Most of them were probably practiced
already in the time of the Second Temple. The first three are part of most
religious abstention rites,94 and the last two belong to the measures polemicized against in Matthew 6:16-18, i.e. they were practiced on some fast
days. The fourth rite is a typical ancient mourning rite. 95
Some may wear sackcloth and place ashes on the head; 96 they abstain
from sleep,"' induce tears and cry,"8 stand for long hours during the
prayer, 99 or suffer more extreme afflictions. 100 The fact that active forms of
asceticism are objected to in a long discussion in the Babylonian Talmud

may mean that stricter forms of afflictions were indeed observed. 101
These stricter afflictions are often considered as sectarian and ascribed
to marginal groups such as the community of Jubilees, Qururan and later
the Karaites. 102 This probably originates in too simple a differentiation into
"mainstream versus the other," perhaps under the influence of this talmudic discussion. Qumran's Festival Prayers, which speak of sorrow and
mourning, were most probably not sectarian. 103
After the destruction of the temple, one might have expected an increase
in the severity of the afflictions, but this does not seem to have been the
case. Instead, some traditions connect aspects of the temple ritual to the afflictions of the people. Abstention from sleep is presented as an imitation
of the high priest's vigil. However, this custom was controversial, since
the redactors of the Babylonian Talmud criticized it as providing the opportunity for unchaste deeds. 104
When did the custom of wearing white garments begin? In Pirqe Rabbi
Eliezer, people are described as bare-footed, not eating or drinking, standing and praying 105 Notably, Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer does not mention white
garments, which therefore seem to be a later custom. In Pseudo-Philo's
sermon On Jonah, the young women are told to wear white garments. 106
Such a commandment would make sense ouly if the white garments of the
young women distinguished them from the other people; in this case, the
older women and all men apparently did not wear white garments.
These white garments hint at a second, contrasting aspect of Yom Kippur. Several sources ascribe a joyous character to Yom Kippur; an example
is the famous passage from Mishnah Ta 'anit 4:8:
34
91
Lev 16:29-31; 23:27-32; Num29:7. The Septuagint understands the construction

nK mm as an inner affliction, translating 0:<; o/UXW; u,_ui'iv, i.e. "afflict your souls."
IIQTemple Scroll xxv:I0-12 understood lli'~l as a reflexive, as in the Aramaic meaning,
and translates "'afflict yourselves."
92
This is reflected also by the most common Greek name for Yom Kippur, "the fast."
The earliest source is. Isa 1:13-14 LXX. Otherwise, the earliest reference is probably in
the Psalms of Solomon 3:8 "[The righteous} atones for (sins of) ignorance by fasting and
humbling the soul and the Lord will cleanse every devout person and his house." These
songs have been dated to approximatetly 70-45 BCE. See R.B. Wright, "Psalms of Solo~
mon," in: J.H. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2 (New York,
1985; pp. 639-670), p. 640.
93 mYoma 8:1; cf. mTa'an 1; cf. mSabb 9:4.
94
Pregnant women and the sick did not have to fast, children had to get accustomed to
the fast from about the age of ten, probably connected not only to the capability of fasting but also to taking responsibility for their deeds. Other Palestinian communities let
even younger children fast, as statements by Shammai (tYoma 4:2 and Soferim 18:7) and
a legend in Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 46 reveal. See J. Tabory, Jewish Festivals in the Time of
the Mishnah and Talmud, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem, 1995), pp. 279-280. On the legend in
Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 46, see below. In Samaritan and Karaite communities the fast is
compulsory for everybody, including children.
95 E. Marbach, "Nudipedalia," Pauli-Wissowa 1111 (1936) 1239-1241.
96 See e.g. Jonah 3; Isa 58:3-5; mTa'an 2:1.
9 7 bYoma 19b and Jubilees 34:13.
98
Cf. e.g. the mourning in Jubilees 34 and in the Festival Prayers as well as the
lamenting mood in such piyyutim as 'Ein Lanu Kohen Gadol(':!l1l1:1:J u? l'N:) (ed. Mirsky,
pp. 210-216) and Mah 'Anu uMah Hayyenu (U"n i11J1 UN iiiJ) (bYoma 87b; Seder Rav
Sa'adia Ga'on [ed. Davidson, Asafand Yoel, p. 262]).
99 De specialibus legibus 1: 186; Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 46.
100
For a much later period the Shu/khan 'Arukh mentions such practices as whipping
oneSelf in order to receive the mercy of God (Orah Hayyim 607:6). The Shi'ite 'Ashura
is famous for its self-afflictions with daggers and whips during dances and processions.
On connections between the 'Ashura and Yom Kippur, see G. Vajda, "JeUne musulmane
et jeftne juif," Hebrew Union College Annua/12-13 (1937-38) 367-385, esp. pp. 373379; S.D. Goitein, "Ramadan, the Muslim Month of Fasting, n in: idem, Studies in Islamic
History and Institutions (Leiden, 1966; pp. 90~110); G.R. Hawting, "The Tawwabun,
Atonement and Ashura," Jewish Studies in Arabic and Islam 17 (1994) 166-181. See
OJ'nllll~J
35
also below, p. 325, note 154. K. Sindawi, 'Ashura' Day and Yom Kippur," Ancient Near
Eastern Studies 38 (2001) 200-214, does not add anything significantly new.
1 1
0
See the beginning of the eighth chapter in bYoma.
102
See J.M. Baumgarten, ..Yom Kippur in the Qumran Scrolls and Second Temple
Sources," Dead Sea Discoveries 6 (1999) 184-191; N. Wieder, The Judean Scrolls and
Karaism (London, 1962); I. Elbogen, Der jiidische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen
Entwicklung (Hildesheim, 1967"" repr. ofl1931 ).
103 See below, pp. 37-46.
104
bYorila 19b. This critique cannot however be used as an argument for the existence
of a high-priestly vigil in the time of the temple, as the idea for such a vigil might have
developed out of the need for a state of purity for the fast. Cf. p. 29, note 46, above.
105
Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 46.
106
F. Siegert (trans!.), Drei hellenistisch-jiidische Predigten. Ps.-Philon, 'Ober Jona',
'Ober Simson' und 'Ober die Gottesbezeichnung 'wohltdtig verzehrendes Feuer' (2 vols;
Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 20, 61; Ttibingen, 1980, 1992),
here vol. 1, p. 38.
36

There were no happier days for Israel than the 15th of Ab and the Day of Atonement, for on them the daughters of Jerusalem used to go forth in white raiments .... And the daughters of Jerusalem went forth to dance in the vineyards. And
what did they say? 'Young man, lift up thine eyes and see what thou wouldest
choose for thyself. ' 107
Festal garments are mentioned by Tertullian, too-' 08 Joy appears also in

Plutarch and Theodoret. 109 The dancing is confirmed by Chrysostom,
Theodore! and Pseudo-Philo On Jonah. 110 We cannot be sure if this was
already a custom in the time of the temple, but it is possible. Some communities it seems celebrated Yom Kippur with an ambivalent mix of afflictions and joy, while others demanded the observance of stricter
afflictions, including active asceticism. Some may have tended more to a
conception of Yom Kippur as a day of wrath and fear, others as a day of
forgiveness - without necessarily linking either conception to a specific
community. After all, both tendencies are included in the conception of
Yom Kippur as judgment day. 111
3.2 Prayers
The biblical prescriptions for Yom Kippur and even their translation in the
' among the obligations of Yom Kippur.
Septuagint do not include prayers
The high priest's temple ritual stands at the center. Yet it would be difficult to explain the immense importance of Yom Kippur already in the time
of the Second Temple if people had had no part in the liturgy. It is clear
that people did participate in the high-priestly acts by observing them.
Sirach describes people watching the daily temple ritual and participating
with supplicatory prayers and prostrations. 112 The Mishnah confirms the
popular observation of the high priest conducting the Yom Kippur
service.U 3 However, the number of people who could actually view the
high priest was limited. How did the remaining people spend their Day of
Atonement, on which almost everything was prohibited - eating, drinking,
cohabitation, work and, according to some, sleep? Philo and the Festival
Prayers from Qumran provide ample evidence for extensive Yom Kippur
prayers in the Alexandrian diaspora as well as in Palestine already in the
107
Transl. Danby.
Tertullian, On Fasting 16:6. For discussion of this text, see below, p. 71-72.
109
Plutarch, Quaestiones Convivales 4:6:2, 671D; Theodoret, Quaestiones in Octateuchum, in Leviticum 32. For discussion of these texts, see below, pp. 68-69 and 280.
110
See below, p. 74, and On Jonah (transl. Siegert 1:41), but cf. mBetzah 5:2.
111
On Yom Kippur/Rosh HaShanah as judgment day, see Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum 13:5-6; cf. mRH 1:2; bRH 16b; Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah (transl. Siegert 1:11).
112
Sir 50:19.
113
mYoma 7:2.
108
37
Second Temple period, i.e. at least from the second century BCE in Palestine and the first century BCE in Alexandria.
3.2.1 Yom Kippur Prayers in Palestine: Qumran
On Yom Kippur, some Jews in Palestine engaged in communal prayer. In
addition to what appears in the Mishnah concerning the prayer toward the
end of the temple service, 114 snatches of prayer services from the land of
Israel have been preserved in the Festival Prayers, which were found in
Qumran but most probably used outside of the Dead Sea community. 115
The earliest copy, I Q34, was written ca. 70-60 BCE, the others during the
first century CEll' In his recent, very detailed investigation of the Qumran
prayers, Daniel Falk reached the conclusion that the Festival Prayers ~o
not betray an ideology specific to the Qumran sect and that they contradict
the calendar and the benediction forms usually employed in Qumran.U 7
According to him, the Festival Prayers belong to a "broad tradition" of
Jewish liturgical texts attesting to the emergence of fixed prayer in the
Second Temple period. 118 Following suggestions by Bilhah Nitzan, 119 Falk
draws attention to some conspicuous analogies between Qumran Yom Kip. t"1m. 120
pur prayers and much later p1yyu
The four scrolls of Festival Prayers (I Q34, 121 4Q507, 4Q508, 4Q509)
provide us with a set of prayers for several festivals. Only two fragments
114
See above, pp. 24--26.
11s These prayers have been investigated mainly by J.T. Milik, "[Q] 34. Recueil de
prieres liturgiques," and "[Q] 34bis. Recueil de prieres liturgiques," in: idem and D. Barthelemy (eds.), Qumran Cave 1. (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 1; Oxford 1955;
pp. 136 and 152-5); M. Baillet, Qumran Grotte 4. Ill (4Q482--4Q520) (Discoveries in the
Judaean Desert 7; Oxford, 1982); in the typology of B. Nitzan, Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry (Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 12; Leiden, 1994); and most
recently in the analysis and reedition by D.K. Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers
in the Dead Sea Scrolls (Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 27; Leiden, 1998).
Cf. R.A. Werline, Penitential Prayer in Second Temple Judaism. The Development of a
Religious Institution (Society of Biblical Literature, Early Judaism and Its Literature 13;
Atlanta {Georgia], 1998).
li6 Falk. Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 155-156.
117 Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 156--157.
118 Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 206--207.
119 Nitzan, Qumran PrO:yer and Religious Poetry, p. 100, note 43, remarked that Qumran's Yom Kippur prayers are close to later "mainstream" prayers.
120
Falk does not, alas, presume a generic connection, but he notes the parallel between
4Q508 2 4--5 and the public recitation of the Amidah on Yom Kippur: see Falk, Daily,
Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 212-213.
121
Following Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls,
p. 155, note 3, I will use the abbrevation 1Q34 for all fragments of this scroll, including
those published under 1Q34bis.
38
can be associated beyond any doubt with a specific festival, since they
mention it explicitly. One of these Festival Prayers belongs to Yom K.ippur.122 Which of the other prayers can be associated with Yom Kippur is a
matter of debate, as evidenced by the greatly differing views of the investigators of the Festival Prayers: Joseph Milik, Maurice Baillet, Bilhah
Nitzan and Daniel Falk. The discussion that follows proceeds according to
the degree of probability of the prayers' association with Yom Kippur,
from practically certain to only probable.
Daniel Falk ascribes the fewest number of prayers to Yom Kippur,
namely five: IQ34 2+1 6--7, 4Q508 2 1-6, 4Q509 5-6 ii, 4Q509 7 and
4Q509 8 I (which he identifies with 4Q508 22+23 1). 123 Of these, two
prayers are too fragmentary to convey theological content. JQ34 2+1 6--7
is the only one to be explicitly named "a prayer for Yom Kippur," but it
contains only the first line of that prayer; 4Q509 8 I // 4Q508 22+23 I
contains the end of a Yom Kippur prayer, but without any further helpful
information-' 24 Two other prayers are also very fragmentary: 4Q509 5-6 ii
quotes Deuteronomy 31:16; 125 the equally fragmentary 4Q509 7 refers to
the last days. 126
The least fragmentary and most interesting prayer is 4Q508 2 1-6:
This prayer connects God's presence and compassion to the human repentance and self-affiiction.'28 God's compassion has appointed time (1Y1~).
The prayer speaks of God's omniscience even regarding such secret matters as the inclination of the people, 129 in a formulation remarkably similar
to the talmudic confession on Yom Kippur called 'Attah Yodea' Razey
'O/am. 130 This idea appears also in the Delos steles and in Pseudo-Philo. 131
The prayer may be part of a confession, for the God who knows the secrets
of the heart knows also the sins committed.
Balliet and Nitzan connect also 4Q50912 i + 13 to Yom K.ippur: 132
[ ... ] And you dwelt in our midst [... ] Remember, 0 Lord, the appointed time of
your mercies (1~7.ln,), and the time of repentance (Jlt17) [... ] and you have established it for us (as) an appointed time of affliction (n'JYn 1ll1i':J), a statute (Vm)
fore[ver ... ] and you know the hidden things and the revealed thing[s ... ] ( ;m~~:1
[m]?l:lilll'mnoJ;, :m111') you [k]now our inclination [... ou]r [rising] and our lying
downyou[ ... ]. 127
122
1Q34 2+1 6.
Falk, Dally, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, p. 165-9.
124
1Q34 2+1 6-7 reads "Prayer for the Day of Atonement. Remem[ber 0 L]ord [ ... ]."
4Q509 8 1 // 4Q508 22+23 1 reads"[ ... ] the work (;"!iilY7.l;'1) [ ... ]you and [ ... Blessed be
the Lord, w]ho had compassion on us (u7.ln,) in the ti[me of ... ]." Trans!. by Falk, Daily,
Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 165 and 167.
125 The fragments read: ;'lnY1' o( ... ]J[ ... ]71J ll!l~<nv? uJ .. [ ... ] !'j:'J mn ;"![ ... ]oK ... IZ7[
]?[ ... ;'lJ~nl]JN: oy JJ1iil ;'1JJ[;'l ... ];m1J1 ,iilNJ 1J[J... ]m7N;'171[J ... ]1l111 ;,m7!1 [ ... ]71J;'1.
126
Contrary to Baillet, Qumran Grotte 4.111, p. 185, who regards both fragments as
belonging to a Rosh Hashanah prayer, Falk rightly points out that this attribution does not
match their position after 4Q509 3 1-9// 1Q34 2+1 1-4 (which includes the beginning of
a Yom Kippur prayer in IQ34 2+1 6): Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the
Dead Sea Scrolls, p. 165. 4Q509 7 reads: 1n [ ...] ;"!nNJiil o71Y7.l 'J ( ... ] 71JJ1 mm;,nJ[l]
]"-..[ ...]?[ ... ], 1ovm? on[ ... J1 o[ ].vn{1}v Jo[ ... ]C'O'" 0'1n.,[ ... ]. .. "J'JO?o.
127
4Q508 2 1-6; I have slightly modified the translation by Falk in Daily, Sabbath,
and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, p. 168.
123
39
the exiles who wander (o~Ymil), without (~7E) [someone to bring (them) back /I]
[ ... ]
[ w ]ithoutstrength;
without [someone to raise (them); Ill
those who fall (z:P7!1Uil),
[ ... ]
without someone to give (them) understanding;
the broken (O',::liill;'l),
without [someone to bind (them) up;//]
[ ... ]in [their] iniquity ([o]llll1J.), [and] there is no (l'K[lJ) one to heal (N!m);
[... ]
[and there is no one II to] comfort (Onl1l);
stumbling in their transgressions (O~'l1W!IJ), [and there is no one to ... ]
128 Baillet, Qumran Grotte 4./11, p. 178-179, regards 4Q508 2 1 as the end of a Rosh
Hashanah prayer and the following lines as the beginning of a Yom Kippur prayer. However, for the argument that the first line belongs to the Yom Kippur prayer, too, see Falk,
Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, p. 168.
129 SeeM. Weinfeld, "Prayer and Liturgical Practice in the Qumran Sect," in: D. Dimant and U. Rappaport (eds.), The Dead Sea Scrolls. Forty Years of Research (Studies on
the Texts of the Desert of Judah 10; Leiden, Jerusalem, 1992; pp. 241-258), p. 247; Falk,
Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 212-213.
130 'Attah Yodea' Razey 'Olam (o7u;r ~r1 3111' ~IlK) ("You know the mysteries of the
world"). Nitzan, Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry, p. 100, note 43. 'Attah Yodea'
Razey 'Olam is quoted incipit in bYoma 87b, and is therefore probably very early. The
full text appears for the first time in Seder Rav Sa 'adia Ga 'on, quoted below, p. 52,
note 199 and in English translation in the appendix. For the terminology, see Deut 29:28
and Ps 103:14, and compare the later prayer HaLo Kol haNistarot vehaNiglot 'Attah
Yodea' (Yll' ;mK nl'nJ;"ll nnnOJ;"17J N7;,, "Don't you know all the hidden and the revealed
things?") in Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on (ed. Goldschmidt, pp.161, 166). The combination
of the two biblical verses, however, and their use in a prayer for the Day of Atonement in
both periods show "that we are dealing with an element of festival prayer tradition." See
Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 213.
131
See below, p. 48, note 172.
132
Baillet, Qumran Grotte 4.1Il, p. 185; Nitzan, Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry,
pp. 100-101, note 43. Falk prefers to associate 4Q509 12 i + 13 tentatively with Sukkot
because of the prayer's position on the scroll (4Q509 12 i + 13 is part of a new prayer,
which follows the Yom Kippur prayer) and its content (the expression f1Nil nNlJII in
4Q509 8 4 //4Q508 22 + 23 3 appears in Lev 23:39 in the context of Sukkot and in an
Amidah for Sukkot from the Genizah). At some time during the work on his book he
seems to have changed his mind, ascribing the prayer tentatively to Yom Kippur: see
Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 168-172 and209.
Yom Kippur in Early Jewish Thaught and Ritual
40
[ Re]member //the sorrow (111') and the weeping (::t::t). You are the companion of
prisoner[s]m
Some terminology is reminiscent of Yom Kippur: iniquity, transgression,

healing and (ifNitzan's reading is correct) liberation ofprisoners. 134 Sorrow and weeping match the Yom Kippur as depicted in Jubilees 34 and
early piyyutim. In addition, Nitzan recognized a remarkable similarity concerning content and form to a much later acrostic piyyut of Yom Kippur's
Mussaf service, VeHen 'Anu 'Atah keTo 'im ve 'Ein Levaqesh:m
Behold we are now:
like strayers (ll'l11nJ),
like captives (rP'l:Jtu::t),
with none (l'Kl) to seek;

with none to return;
like fools,
like weary ones
with none to teach;

with none to refresh;
like bent ones
like mourners,
(o~Y::t),
(!:l'~l!l:l::t),
with none to straighten;

with none to console them;l3 6
Falk, who takes up Nitzan' s observation, suggests that this points to the
existence of "a post-biblical prayer tradition- albeit drawing on biblical
resources -which is reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls but also in medieval
liturgical poetry." 137
133
4Q509 12 i + 13; translation in Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the
Dead Sea Scrolls, p. 170, notated according to the structure of the poem. From the context, Nitzan understands the last line as "release the imprison[ed]": see, Qumran Prayer
and Religious Poetry, p. 100, note 42.
134
See pp. 85-92, below, on I Enoch 10 and IIQMe/chizedek.
m Ui'j:'.J7 l'Nl D'l7111:J iln:!1 UN li11 ("Behold, we are now like strayers with none to seek")See Nitzan, Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry, pp. 100-101; cf. Falk, Daily, Sabbath,
and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 211-212.
136
Translation based on N.N. Scherman, The Complete ArtScroll Machzor Yom Kippur
Nusach Ashkenaz. A New Translation and Anthologized Commentary (ArtScroll Mesorah
Series New York, 1986), p. 579; for the Hebrew, see D. Goldschmidt (ed-), Mahzor for
the Days of Awe. According to the Ashkenazy Rite of All Customs Including the Western
Ashkenazy Rite, the Polish Rite, and the Ancient French Rite. Volume 2: Yom Kippur (Jerusalem, 1970), p. 495.
137
Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 209-212.
41
1 would argue that 4Q509 16, another fragment from the same scroll,
may also belong to a Yom Kippur prayer.
[ ... ]in all [their] pain[s ... ] Have pity on them because of their affliction (':9' D:11:Jn1
onlin) [... ]the sorrow (TU') of our elders and [our] noble[s ... ] the youths taunted
them[ ... ] they have [n]ot considered that Y[ou ... ] our wisdom[ ... ] and we [ ... ]. 138
Falk prefers to associate this prayer with Sukkot, 139 but "Have pity on
i'
-'
--t
I'.. .
them because of their affliction" (on'Wn .,Y m~m) and the "sorrow of our
elders" match Yom Kippur better.
Baillet regards further texts as Yom Kippur prayers, among them I Q34
3 ii/4Q508 I l-3: 14<l
[ ... ] and [he] comman[ded ... ] in the lot ('7111) of the righ[te]ous but for the wicked
the I[0 ]t [ ... ] in their bones a disgrace to all flesh; but the righteous [-.-] fat by the
clouds of heaven and the produce of the earth, to distinguish [between the
righ]teous and the wicked. And you give the wicked (for) our [r]ansom (131!ll[:J]),
aO(l/but the tr[eacher]ous ones [ ... ] the extermination of all our oppressors. And
we will praise your name forever [and ever,] for it is for this that you created us,
and (it is for) this (reason) tha[t we say] to you: Blessed [be the Lord who ... ]. 141
Unfortunately, the position of IQ34 3 i //4Q508 I on the scroll is unclear

and the contents are the ouly basis for any association to a festival. Falk is
unsure if this prayer belongs to Passover or to Yom Kippur. 142 Yet two of
the motifs that he explains against the background of Passover appear associated with Yom Kippur. First, the phrase "fat by the clouds of heaven"
clearly refers to the heaveuly manna. Manna and Yom Kippur are linked in
IQWords of Moses and Philo. 143 Second, Falk associates the distinction
between righteous and wicked with the (wicked) generation of the exodus.
Yet the motif appears in 11 QMelchizedek in connection with Yom Kippur.
Also the eschatological (?) extermination of the oppressors and the term
m~1[:l] (ransom) evoke the imagery of Yom Kippur.
1l8 4Q509 16; translation in Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea
Scrolls, p. 173. Nitzan, Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry, pp. 108-9, also assumes
that this fragment is part of a Yom Kippur prayer, albeit without providing arguments.
139
See Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 172173. Baillet, too, associates the fragment with Sukkot for reasons of position on the
scroll: Qumrdn Grotte 4./l/, pp. 185 and 191.
140
Baillet, Qumrdn Grolle 4.11/, pp. 177-178 and 185.
141
IQ34 3 i //4Q508 1, translated by Falk in Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in
the Dead Sea Scrolls, p. 178.
142 Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, p. 178.
143
See pages 47 and 97, below; see also bYoma 74b.
42
Baillet also considers I Q34 3 ii II 4Q509 97+98 i, which follows I Q34

3 iII 4Q508 I, just discussed, as Yom Kippur prayer:
ii II 4Q509 97+98 i mentions the writing of the hand of God and therefore
the first giving, the ideas are related. 149
Yehoshua Grintz suggested viewing I Q34 3 ii as the remains of au early
Seder Avodah pointing to the connection of creation with the history of sin
in a Yom Kippur prayer. 150 We do not, however, know if the fragment continued with the main part of the Seder Avodah, the high-priestly service.
Therefore, even if I Q34 3 ii II 4Q509 97+98 i belongs to Yom Kippur, it
does not have to be a Seder Avodah fragment.
According to Baillet, 4Q508 3, too, could have belonged to Yom Kippur.151 It mentions Noah, Isaac and Jacob and could have been part of a
prayer retelling the history and therefore even part of a Seder Avodah.
Moshe Weinfeld points to the use of 1lYIV1;t ("we were lawless") - a rare
form in the Hebrew Bible- in the Yom Kippur prayer 'Ava/ Hatanu. 152
Unfortunately, the context of lll1111l:J in 4Q508 3 is missing; the text is
therefore too fragmentary to permit certainty.
[ ... ] the grea[t] light for the appointed time of [day, and the little light for the
night ... ] and one must not transgress their laws, and all of them [... ] and their
dominion in all the world. But the seed of ma[n] did not perceive all that you
caused him to inherit, and they did not know you [in a]ll your words, but they
acted more wickedly than all (others) and they did not perceive your great might.
Therefore you rejected them for you take no pleasure in iniquity, and the wicked
will not be established before you. But you chose for yourself a people in the time
of your favor for you remembered your covenant and you [granted] that they
should be set apart for yourself as holy from all the peoples, and renewed your
covenant for them by a vision of gl[or]y and the words of your [spirit] of holiness,
by the works of your hands and the writing of your right hand, to make them know
the glorious instruction and the eternal works. [ ... you raised up] for [th]em a
faithful shepherd [ ... ] poor and [ ... ].144
Falk does not rule out Yom Kippur as the liturgical Sitz im Leben, but he
tentatively associates the prayer with Shavuot because it addresses the re~
newal of the covenant and the giving of the Torah-' 45 In favor of au attribution to Yom Kippur it may be ~tated that a juxtaposition of the giving of
the covenant and the covenant sacrifice with Yom Kippur is found in the
Epistle to the Hebrews 9:18-21. 146 The election of the Jewish people and
the teaching of the commandments to them is the main theme of the
ancient prayer 'Attah Bahartanu, an addition to the fourth benediction of
the Amidah (the "01':1 mzm;;>") on festivals and especially on Yom
Kippur-' 47 Finally, in the biblical narrative and in rabbinic literature the
second giving of the Torah is connected to Yom Kippur-' 48 While !Q34 3
144
IQ34 3 ii // 4Q509 97+98 i, translated by Falk in Daily, Sabbath, and Festival
Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, p. 179.
145
146
A call to God to remember the covenant is the central topic of the Zekhor Lanu ( 11:1r
u?), a prayer ending the Zikhronot from the Mussaf service of Yom Kippur. See Goldschmidt, Mahzor for the Days ofAwe, vol. 2, pp. 574-576.
147
'Attah Bahartanu (un1n:1 i111N, "You have chosen us"), quoted incipit in bYoma 87b.
Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (ed. Davidson, Asaf and Yoel, pp. 259-260), gives a full
Babylonian version, and Genizah fragments provide a Palestinian version beginning 'Attah Baharta beYisrael (?N11Zl':J 111n:1 il11N): see E. Fleischer, Eretz-lsrael Prayer and
Prayer Rituals as Portrayed in the Geniza Documents [in Hebrew] (Publications of the
Perry Foundation in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Jerusalem, 1988), pp. 95-96.
The parallel was first noted by Nitzan, Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry, pp. 103104.
148
According to the traditional reading of Rashi this concept stands behind Mekilta,
Amalek 4 to Exod 18:13 (ed. Horovitz, p. 196; ed. Lauterbach vol. 2, p. 179). See also the
Baraita in bTa'an 30b and bBB 12la.
43
149
Weinfeld, "Prayer and Liturgical Practice in the Qumran Sect," p. 247, points to a
parallel motive of "God not desiring" in the prayer ve 'Attah Hivdalta (i111'71:Jil :111N1), part
of the Neilab service (cf. Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on, [ed. Davidson, Asaf and Yael,
p. 262]). However, this resemblance seems to me superficial, since in 1Q34 God does not
desire iniquity while in the Neitah prayer God does not desire the destruction of the
world or the death of the wicked.
150 Y.M. Grintz, .. A Seder Avodah for Yom Kippur from Qumran" [in Hebrew] in:
Chapters in the History of the Second Temple (Jerusalem, 1969; pp. 155-158). Nitzan
seems to accept this thesis: Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry, p. 98, note 33. For a
discussion of the emergence of Seder Avodah, see below pp. 59-64.
51
'
Baillet, Qumran Grotte 4./Il, p. 177. The extant text of 4Q508 3 reads:
]'!ti' i1111JT i1[ ... i1]JnmN :Jlplr'71 pn[:!P? ... ] nu7 opn[1 ]m1m[ ...]1JYII11i1 N[
Baillet further suggests that the tiny fragments 7, 30 and 39-41 of 4Q508 may also have
been Yom Kippur prayers. Their texts read:
7: ]01 [ .. .?] 100[
30: J'[ ... J '"''"' n ...m "'''o'o[ ... J ;,[ 'J ''r> 11oo; "'' 1[
39: ]?[ ... ] lJ"nJ ltnu Nl?{. .. ozn]lll' J?:Jun UNl [

40: ] .. ?1:1 D[ ... ]i1J'Nl 13'NJlZ11:J ?[... ]il? illlm 1111N[
41: ]1:J:J?l u ... [ ... ]i1??1 OI:Jl' il1[ ... ]1311Ntm 'm 1lJ [
Nitzan, Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry, pp. 100 and 109, agrees on the association
of fragments 30 and 39 with Yom Kippur.
152 uNcn ?:JN (But we sinned"). M. Weinfeld, "Prayer and Liturgical Practice in the
Qumran Sect," p. 247; the prayer quotes Neb 9:33; the form UY1111:1 appears also in
Ps 106:6 and Dan 9:5. The prayer 'Ava/ Hatanu is first attested in bYom 87b (incipit) and
in its full version as an addition to the fourth benediction of Yom Kippur's Amidah
(Ol'il 111Z111P) in Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (ed. Davidson, Asaf and Yael, pp. 261-262),
see below, p. 53, note 204.
44
r--
Manfred Lehmann, followed by Nitzan, associates with Yom Kippur

also IQ34 2+1 1--4- whose text can now be improved with the overlapping text of 4Q509 3 2-9: 153
[ ... ]and her sorrow[ ... ] the appointed time of our peace [ ... For you made us rejoice] from our distress, and you gather together [our exiles for the time of ... J and
our scattered ones {for [the age of} you] as[semble for the age of ... ] your
[me]rcies upon our assembly like dr[ops of water upon the earth in seed time like
rain upon the fi]eld in the time of grass 154 and [ ... And we, we will sing of] your
[w]onders from generation to generat[ion.... Bless]ed be the Lord, who made [us]
rejoice ([1]Jn7Jt17) [... ]. 155
;
'
Lehmann draws attention to a similar use of Deuteronomy 32 in a Samaritan Yom Kippur prayer. 156 Bailie! and Falk prefer to associate the prayer
with Rosh Hashanah because of its emphasis on rejoicing (n~111) and the
position of the prayer just before the clear Yom Kippur prayer I Q34 2+ I
6-7, discussed above. 157 However, the mention of n7.l'Zl does not exclude
Yom Kippur since many Palestinian Yom Kippur prayers from the Genizah
include the expression ilni:HU '1l1m. 158
Finally, Menahem Kister has suggested seeing a Seder Avodah in
5Q13I 59 The reconstruction ho/ him and Elisha Qimron of the highly fragmentary 5Q 13 is congenial, 160 and the parallels between the historical
153
M. Lehmann, "'Yom Kippur' in Qumran," Revue de Qumran 3 (1961/1962) 117124, here pp. 120-121; Nitzan, Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry, p. 102.
u 4 Quoting Deut 32:2b.
ISS My translation based on DSST.
156
Lehmann, "'Yom Kippur' in Qumran," pp. 120--121; A. Cowley, The Samaritan
Liturgy (Oxford, 1909), vol. 2, pp. 506--508. The Samaritan Yom Kippur liturgy has been
investigated by J. Macdonald, A Critical Edition of the Text of the Samaritan Yom HaKippur{im} Liturgy, with Translation thereof and Comparison with the Corresponding
Jewish Liturgies (Leeds, 1958), which, regretfully, was unavailable to me.
157
158
E.g. Fleischer, Eretz-Israel Prayer and Prayer Rituals as Portrayed in the Geniza
Documents, pp. 139-140, numbers l, I a, 2, 9, 10, 14.
159
Menahem Kister, "5Q13 and the 'Avodah: A Historical Survey and Its Significance," DeadSeaDiscoveries8 (2001) 136-148.
160
In particular the suggestion to put 11Jn on fragment 3 next to line 5 and the reconstruction of j?n:!P in line 7 and 1l,i1K in line 9. Kister's and Qimron's reconstruction reads:
"God of all [ ... who ... ] and founded [ es]tahlished[ed ... ]treasures[ ... ] as [you] made
[... ]Enoch (??)[ J have you chosen from among the sons of A[ d]am, and you [ ... ]
forever? [ ... ]And Noah have you preferred from among the so[ns of...]. And Abraham
[ ... lsa]ac you have selected out and[ ... ]. You [made] yourself known to Jacob at Bethel
[ ... and you ... him ... ] to understand [your] works. And Levi have you se[parat]ed and
you appointed him to bind [ ... ]service of[ ... and Aaron you have ch]osen [from] Levi to
go out [ ... and come in ... to ma]ke hidden thing[s] known [ ... in] their covenant before
.j
I.
i
-~f,
__f'
,
____
l.
45
survey of the Seder Avodah 'Attah Bara'ta and 5Q13 are interesting.'"
However, in the extant parts of 5QI3, there is no allusion to the main part
of any Seder Avodah, the Yom Kippur service of the high priest. 162
In sum, the material discussed suggests that the following extant prayers
should be categorized as Yom Kippur prayers: I Q34 2+1 6-7, 4Q508 2 16, 4Q509 5-6 ii, 4Q509 7 and 4Q509 8 I II 4Q508 22+23 I; probably
4Q509 12 i + 13, 4Q509 16 and IQ34 3 ill 4Q508 I; and possibly IQ34 3
ii II 4Q509 97+98 i, IQ34 2+1 1--4 II 4Q509 3 2-9, 4Q508 3 and 5QI3.lf
Falk's attributions to the festivals are correct, the Yom Kippur prayers did
not exceed one and a half colwnns. In this case, either the services of the
communities using these prayers were shorter than Philo's or relatively little of them have survived. Falk states that other Yom Kippur prayers
probably existed, but he prefers to associate the rest of the extant Festival
Prayers with events other than Yom Kippur. According to the arguments
discussed above, however, probably four more fragments belong to the
solemn day of awe. 163
The Yom Kippur prayers associate the conceptions of divine indwelling
and omniscience, a special season for God's mercy and human repentance.
Beyond this, they probably mention the brokenness of human existence,
afflictions, sorrow and weeping evoking divine mercy, the manna, punishment of the wicked, and perhaps also creation, history of sin, election and
covenant renewal. Almost all motifs appear also in late antique piyyutim.
The comparable material in Philo is very scant. It is thus even more significant that the motif of the manna appears in the Festival Prayers as well
as in Philo -raising the question of whether there was some fonn of common prayer tradition extending from Palestine to Egypt.
We do not have any hard evidence for a reenactment of the temple ritual
in the Yom Kippur service of the Qumran community or any other Second
you [ ... eve]ry year and you commanded him to admon[ish? ... ] and afterwards they [will]
declare [ ... ]to every man oflsrael [ ... his] pat[h] concerning ... "
161 'Attah Barata (:-rmn::t ;ml't, "You created"). Both begin with the creation and give a
list of several elected people of God from Adam to Aaron concluding with Aaron's service. That neither of them mention Moses or the Torah is a weak argument for 5Ql3
being a Seder Avodah. 5Ql3 is highly fragmentary. Furthermore, Moses and the Torah
are mentioned in other early Sidrei Avodah, so, the lack of Moses or the Torah seems to
be not a distinct feature of Sidrei Avodah but it is an indication of priestly propaganda.
162
As noted by Kister on p. 147.
'" 4Q509 12 i + 13; 4Q509 16; JQ34 3 iII 4Q508 1; !Q34 3 ii II 4Q509 97+98 i. Falk
dismisses out of hand the possibility that the verso of 4Q509 contained the complete text
of the War Scroll- "if it did, the collection of Festival Prayers would have been implausibly long": Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, p. 158, note
17.
46
Temple community. Is it possible that they recited other material, e.g. Leviticus 16 or 4QTargum of Leviticus or (in Qumran) the relevant passage
from liQTemp/e Scroll or liQMe/chizedek? 164
At one point, Philo actually quotes a prayer for Yom Kippur. The formulation in the plural makes clear that the Yom Kippur prayer is communal and
not private.
3.2.2 Yom Kippur Prayers in the Diaspora: Philo
47
They say, "We have gladly received and are storing the boons of nature, yet we do
not ascribe our preservation to any corruptible thing, but to God the Parent and
Father and Saviour of the world and all that is therein, Who has the power and the
right to nourish and sustain us by means of these or without these. See, for example, how the many thousands of our forefathers as they traversed the trackless and
all-barren desert, were for forty years, the life of a generation, nourished by Him
as in a land of richest and most fertile soil; how He opened fountains unknown before to give them abundance of drink for their use; how He rained food from
heaven, neither more nor less than what sufficed for each day, that they might
consume what they needed without hoarding, nor barter for the- prospect, but taking little thought of the bounties received rather reverence and worship the bountiful Giver and honour Him with the hymns and benedictions that are His due." 161
For the diaspora, impressive evidence has been preserved in Philo's writings, which have been all but ignored in previous research on Yom Kippur
prayers. The service attracts the participation even of those who usually
are less religious or non-religious:
On the tenth day is the fast, which is carefully observed not only by the zealous
for piety and holiness but also by those who never act religiously in the rest of
their life. For all stand in awe, Overcome by the sanctity of the day, and for the
moment the worse vie with the better in selfdenial and virtue. 165
The day-long prayers have a propitiating function and include supplications and praise of God's gracious nature.
Besides giving thanks for preservation, the prayer includes an allusion to

the wandering through the desert and being sustained by the manna (Exodus 16) and Moses' water miracles (Exodus 15:22-26; 17:1-7). Marma is
also connected to Yom Kippur in the Festival Prayers and 1QWords of
Moses from Qumran. 169 This connection may point to a common liturgicalexegetical tradition linking the afflictions of Yom Kippur with
Deuteronomy 8:3, combining marma and affliction. Philo explicitly links
Yom Kippur and Deuteronomy 8:3 in a tradition that also combines the
two main acts of the people on Yom Kippur, self-affliction and prayer. 170
Abstention from food and renunciation of passions frees the human being
to receive the true divine food. Similar combinations of self-affliction and
The holy-day is entirely devoted to prayers and supplications (h-ca.i~ Ked h::eoiatt;),
and men from mom to eve employ their leisure in nothing else but offering petitions of humble entreaty (SET~nK(I)'t&.ta<; &Ux.&.~) in which they seek earnestly to propitiate God (tOv aeOv e;E1lJ.lvft:ea9at) and ask for remission (1tapaitTJ.mv) of their
sins, volwttary and involuntary, and entertain bright hopes looking not to their
own merits but to the gracious nature of Him Who sets pardon before chastisement.166
The placating effect of prayers for forgiveness is even more explicit in the
following sentence, where the root l.A.aax- appears:
But in our fast men may not put food and drink to their lips, in order that with pure
hearts, untroubled and untrammeled by any bodily passion, such as is the common
outcome of repletion, they may keep the holy-day, propitiating (iJ..aaK6J.Ievot) the
Father of All with fitting prayers, in which they are wont to ask that their old sins
may be forgiven (O.J.lvrjatiav) and new blessings gained and enjoyed. 167
The afflictions are purification rites providing the necessary conditions for
the propitiatory effect of the prayers. The prayer service in Philo's Alexandrian community must have been highly developed and highly regarded.
169 Seep. 41, above and p. 97, below; see also bYoma 14b.
170 "He says in Deuteronomy also: 'And He afflicted (f:KitJCroae) thee and made thee
164
Further points are discussed below, pp. 49-64, in the section on Yom Kippur
prayers after the destruction of the temple.
165 De specialibus legibus 1:186; transl. by F.C.L. Colson in LCL, Philo 7:205-206.
This statement is reminiscent of Rudolf Otto's Das Heilige.
166 De specialibus /egibus 2: 196; trans!. by F.C.L. Colson in LCL, Philo 7:429.
167 De vita Mosis 2:24; transl. F.C.L. Colson in LCL Philo 6:461.
168
De specialibus legibus 2:198-199; transl. F.C.L. Colson in LCL, Philo 7:431. Cf.
De specialibus legibus 2:203.
weak by hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that He might
proclaim to thee, that not on bread alone shall man live, but on every word that goeth
forth through the mouth of God' (Deut. viii. 3). This afflicting is propitiation (fl Kclxrocn<;
aittT) iAaoJ.I6<; f:on); for on the tenth day also by afflicting our souls He makes propitiation
{Ko.KWv i!J.lWV -rU~ 'l'tJXO.<; iAO:oJCeoat) (Leviticus xvi. 30). For when we are being deprived of
pleasant things, we think we are being afflicted (KaJCOikJ9at}, but in reality thereby we
have God propitious (i?..e(l)v) to us. He occasions famine also to us, not a famine of virtue,
but a famine of the creations of passion and wickedness" (Legum a/legoriae 3:174;
transl. F.C.L. Colson in LCL, Philo 1:419). Notably, active and passive afflictions are
equated here.
48
prayer can be found in the Apocalypse of Elijah 111 and two steles from
Delos. 172
Concerning the contents of the day-long prayers, Philo speaks of
prayers for forgiveness, supplication and praise of God. 173 One passage of
Philo may be understood as alluding to a confession of sins. 174 The early
association of repentance with Yom Kippur in Jubilees makes such a confession of sins as part of the prayer service highly probable for Palestine in
the second century BCE. 175 A recitation of biblical passages, though not alluded to, is quite likely, given the need to fill the lengthy service.
171
Apocalypse of Elijah 1:15~21: ..1s Remember that from the time when he created
the heavens, the Lord created the fast for a benefit to men on account of the passions and
desires which fight against you so that the evil will not inflame you. 16 'But it is a pure
fast which I have created,' said the Lord. 11 The one who fasts continually wiH not sin
although jealousy and strife are within him. I8 Let the pure one fast. but whenever the one
who fasts is not pure he has angered {he Lord and also the angels. I9 And he has grieved
his soul, gathering up wrath for himself for the day of wrath. 20 But a pure fast is what I
created, with a pure heart and pure hands. 21 It releases sin. It heals diseases.It casts out
demons. 22 It is effective up to the throne of God for an ointment and for a release from
sin by means of a pure prayer." Translation in O.S. Wintermute, "Apocalypse of Elijah,"
in: J.H. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha I (New York, 1983;
pp. 721-753).
172
Two Jewish or Samaritan steles from the cemetery of Delos dating to around
100 BCE may refer to Yom Kippur, Corpus lnscriptionum Judaicarum I, 725 (ed. Frey).
See J. Gager, Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World (New York,
1992), p. 186; A. Deissmann, Licht vom Osten. Das Neue Testament und die neuentdeckten Texte der hellenistisch-r6mischen Welt (Tiibingen, 4 1923), pp. 315ff; and items 197
and 198 in Nicole Belayche's unpublished Ph.D. dissertation with very rich references on
further literature. The text of the steles is identical, cursing those responsible for the premature death of the young Heraklea I Marthine and evoking '<the God, who sees everything, and the angels of the God, before whom every soul humbles itself on this day with
supplication." The three elements of supplication, affliction and omniscience, which
appear here in the context of "this day," are frequently found connected to Yom Kippur
in later texts. The formulation recalls the Septuagint of Lev 16. I would like to express
my warmest gratitude to Nicole Belayche for drawing my attention to the inscriptions
and providing me with the relevant pages of her analysis before publication. See also
N. Belayche, ludaea - Palaestina. The Pagan Cults in Roman Palestine. Second to
Fourth Century (Religion der ROmischen Provinzen 1; Tfibingen, 2001).
113
De specialibus legibus 2: 196-199.203; De vita Mosis 2:24.
174
De posteritate Caini 70-72.
m Possibly, one of the prayers of Qumran, which is similar to a confession of the rabbinic period, may have served as confession (see above, pp. 38-39, the discussion on
4Q508 2 l-6).
49
3.2.3 Yom Kippur Prayers after the Destruction of the Temple
176
The earliest Tannaitic sources mention an exceptional number of five services for Yom Kippur: on top of Aravit, Shaharit and Minhah, not only
Mussaf- the "additional" offer/prayer as on the Sabbath and other festivals - but also the Ne'ilah (the "closing"), a special prayer for the end of
Yom Kippur are added-' 77 This matches the length of the anonymous sermon On Jonah and the statements by Philo on the prayers filling the whole
day. 178
Tosefta Berakhot prescribes seven benedictions for each of the prayers
of Yom Kippur, as for Sabbath and other holidays. 179 Yom Kippur exceptionally had four priestly blessings. 180
Few complete prayer texts have been preserved from the Tannaitic or
Amoraic periods; most rabbinic sources quote incipit. The earliest extant
Siddur, the Seder Rav 'Amram Ga 'on, is from the ninth century-'" It includes numerous prayers and is extremely valuable for understanding the
general sequence of the prayers; but the textual evidence is too corrupt to
permit reconstruction of the actual wording of the prayers. 182 Among other
176 See the useful survey in Tabory, Jewish Festivals in the Time of the Mishnah and
Talmud, pp. 282-293; J. Maier, "Sfihne und Vergebung in der jUdischen Liturgie," Jahrbuchfiir Biblische Theologie 9 (1994) 145-171; Goldschmidt, Mahzor for the Days of
Awe, vol. 2, pp. n-:n; Fleischer, Eretz-lsrael Prayer and Prayer Rituals as Portrayed in
the Geniza Documents, pp. 93-155, esp. pp. 120-147; I. Elbogen, "Die Tefilla fUr die
Festtage" Monatsschriftfiir Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums 55 (1911) 426446, 586-599.
177 Cf. mTa'an 4:1;yBer 4:1, 1c;yTa'an 4:1, 67c.
173 Seep. 46, above and pp. 57-59, below.
179 tBer 3:12; bYoma 88a. These benedictions comprise m:JR (the Patriarchs), ;J1l~
(God's might), rnu;, nwnv (the sanctity ofthe name), OP:-J Il117l7i' (the sanctity of the day),
:-J1l:JY (the temple service), 1:1'11/:J (thanksgiving) and 1:11;117 (peace). In addition, the same
additions as the benedictions on Rosh Hashanah (the so-called Zikhronot (mm:>r,
memories), Malkhuyot (m:>?ll, kingdoms) and Shofarot (nn~mu, Shofars or trumpets).
were at some point included in the Amidah of Yom Kippur (bTa'an 16b-17a; Soferim
19:6; cf. mRH 4:5-6; mTa'an 2:2-5). Cf. H. Mack, "The Source of the Malkhuyyot
Benediction," Jewish Studies Quarterly 9 (2002) 205-218; J. Heinemann, "The Ancient
'Orders of Benedictions' for New Year and Fasts,'' [in Hebrew] Tarbiz 45 (1976) 258267; N. Wieder, "The Form of the Third Benediction of the 'Amida on Rosh Hashshana
and Yom Kippur'' [in Hebrew] Tarbiz 34 (1964) 43-48; L. Liebreich, "The Insertions in
the Third Benediction of the Holy Days," Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (I 964) 79101; I. Elbogen, "Die Tefilla fUr die Festtage," Monatsschrift zur Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums 55 (1911) 426-446, 586-599.
ISO mTa'an4:1;yBer4:1, 1c;bTa'an26b.
18 1 D. Goldschmidt, Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on. Edited according to Manuscripts and
Prints with Additions, Variant Lections and Introduction [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem, 1971).
IS2 Goldschmidt, Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on, p. 10.
50
things, the Seder Rav 'Amram Ga 'on mentions an Amidab of seven benedictions with additions, confessions and supplication prayers, readings of
the Bible, and (at least) for Mussafthe acme of the service in the liturgical
reenactment, the Seder Avodah. 183 The text of the Seder Rav Sa 'adia
Ga 'on, written half a century after the Seder Rav 'Amram Ga 'on, is
commonly perceived to be more faithful to the origina! 184 It lists
185
confessions, some additions to the seven-blessing Amidah 186 and many
piyyutim for Sidrei Avodah and Selihot prayers. While the two Siddurim,
the Seder Rav 'Amram Ga 'on and the Seder Rav Sa 'adia Ga 'on, give
essentially Babylonian prayers, many prayers from the early medieval
Palestinian rites have been published from Genizah manuscripts. 187
A full investigation of the early medieval Yom Kippur liturgy would require its own detailed treatment. I will however deal briefly with general
aspects of the early development of the confessions, readings and the Seder
Avodah in the Tannaitic and Amoraic periods (before the Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on and the Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on).
CONFESSIONS: The statns and number of confessions and their contents

vary greatly from the Bible to Seder Rav 'Amram Ga 'on and Seder Rav
Sa'adia Ga'on. The biblical account in Leviticus 16 mentions one confession - that of the high priest "for all the iniquities of the people of Israel,
and all their transgressions, all their sins." 188 This is a vicarious confession
by an individual representating the collective. The biblical descriptions of
the people's ritual do not include confessions. For the rabbinic period,
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan clearly demonstrates the increased importance
of confession over and against sacrifice. To each "atones" in Leviticus 16
the translator(s) added a "by confession." Moreover, Targum PseudoJonathan Leviticus 16:30 includes a longer reference to confession and its
power to atone.
When did the confessions become central to the individual prayer service (and not only in the high-priestly vicarious confession)? This might
have occurred when repentance became the focal idea of Yom Kippur, an
association first made explicit by Jubilees in the second century BCE. One
of Qumran's prayers (4Q508 2 1--6) is close to the talmudic confession
'Allah Yodea' Razey '0/am and might therefore have been part of a confession.189 Philo, too, alludes to a personal confession. 190
The mishnaic account of the temple service has two more confessions
than Leviticus 16. The first is a personal confession by the high priest for
himself and for his house. 191 The second again covers the high priest and
his house but also the other priests. 192 Still, it is formulated in the first person singular. We do not know if these two extra confessions took place
only in the synagogues or also in the temple. In any case, they clearly indicate a shift from the collective toward the individual, from the vicarious to
the personal. Whoever recites the confession contained in the Mishnah or
in a Seder Avodah becomes himself (or herself) the high priest reading the
high priest's confessions as a verbal reenactment. Ifthe whole community
recites the Seder Avodah, the high priest's confession becomes the private
prayer of every individual.
The early rabbinic sources on the synagogue prayer speak of yet other
confessions. The Tosefta reports that a confession is included in all five
prayer services and that an additional confession was pronounced before
183
Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on (ed. Goldschmidt, pp. 160-172). From Gaonic responses
we learn that there were many communities in which it was customary to read a Seder
Avodah in each service. See the discussion in L.A. Hoffinan, The Canonization of the
Synagogue Service (University of Notre Dame, Center for the Study of Judaism and
Christianity in Antiquity 4; Notre Dame [Ind.] and London, 1979), pp. 107-110. Three of
Yose ben Yose's Sidrei Avodah were used in three different services: 'Attah Konanta
(;mm:~ i1llK) for Shaharit, 'Azkir Gevurot 'E/oah (m?K 11111:11 1'::tTK) for Mussaf and
'Asapper Gedo/ot (m;nl 1!10K) for Minhah. Mussaf was finally chosen, since it was
supposed to be at the same time as the temple service. This elevates the status of theSeder Avodah as a conscious reenactment of the actual sacrificial ritual.
184
Y. Davidson, S. Asaf and Y. Yoei (eds.), Siddur R. Sa'adja Ga'on [in Hebrew]
(Jerusalem, 1941).
185
'Attah Yodea' Razey 'Olam with a brief version of 'AI Het (Kim ?Y); 'Ava/ Hatanu;
and a special confession for the Ne'ilah prayer Mah Ne'emar Lefaneikha Yoshev baMarom (cnoJ J1UP 1'J!I? 17.lKJ ;"llJ) Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (ed. Davidson, Asafand Yoel,
pp. 259-264 ).
186
Especially 'Attah Bahartanu (umnJ ;"lllK), veTitten Lanu (n? llllll) and 'Eloheinu
ve 'Elohei 'Avoteinu Mehol CnnlJ lJ'lllJK ';"l'K11J';"l7K ).
187
See the texts of the additions to the Amidah (esp. 'Attah Baharta beYisrael- ;"l.MK
7K11Zi''J n1n:::1; veTitten Lanu -u; llllll; 'Eloheinu ve'Eiohei 'Avoteinu Ga/leh- ';"''Kl u;,?K
;"'?llJ'.MlJK; 'Ana 'Eloheinu Ya'aleh veYavo- Kl:l'l ;,;~ 1l1i17K KJK; veHasi'enu- 1JK'!11:11)
and the references to earlier literature assembled in Fleischer, Eretz-lsrae/ Prayer and
Prayer Rituals as Portrayed in the Geniza Documents, pp. 93-159. For the confession
published by Israel Abrahams, seep. 53, note 200, below. It is noteworthy that uvekhen
Ten Pahdekha (1'm!lll11JJ1) the addition to the third benediction of the Am.idah does not
appear here in the Genizah fragments nor in Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on: see Fleischer,
pp. 125-132.
188
189
190
191
192
l_
Lev 16:21.
See above, p. 39.
Philo, De posteritate Caini 70-72. Was it part of his Alexandrian service?
mYoma 3:8.
mYoma 4:2.
51
--~
52
the beginning of Yom Kippur. 193 The confessions seem to have been
extraordinarily long. 194 According to one tradition the words were fixed,
according to another they varied and were strictly personal in order to
match the sins committed in the previous year. 195 A non-fixed confession
nnderscores the shift from the vicarious confession by the high priest on
behalf of the collective to the personal and individual confession of a person praying for him/herself before God's judgment.
Early on, several formulas developed that were initially the personal
confessions of influential rabbis and then became common usage. 196 The
Palestinian Talmud gives a confession in the name of Rabbi Ba bar Bina:
Ribboni Hatati uMura' 'Asiti ('n'tvY Y11i:n 'nNcn 'J1::n). 197 The Babylonian
Talmud mentions several additional confessions, some of which match
confessions still in use: 198
Rab: 'Attah Yodea' Razey '0/am (c?1Y '11 Y11' :mN) 199
193
The individual spoke the confession after the Amidah, whereas in the repetition the
prayer leader included it in the fourth benediction, the 01':1 mzmp (tYoma 4:14, cf.
bYoma 87b).
194
The Tosefta emphasizes the extreme length of what it calls the order of the confession ('11'1:1 110) (tBer 3:6).
~
195
tYoma4:14-I5. See Hoffman, The Canonization of the Synagogue Service,
pp. 102-107.
196
For various ancient versions from the Talmudim and the Genizah, see Elbogen, Der
jiidische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung, pp. 149-151; and Goldschmidt, Mahzor for the Days ofAwe, vol. 2, pp. -J'. On post-talmudic confessions from
the Genizah, see also the brief dissertation by G. Ormann, Das Siindenbekenntnis des
Versiihnungstages, sein Aujbau und seine Entwicklung, in Verbindung mit Geniza-Texten
untersucht (Frankfurt a.M., 1934).
197 yYoma 8:9, 45c, gives the text in full: 7llU7 '11":1 :ll11 11l11:ll '11'10l1 111101 'llK!:Jn 'J1J1
'li'lZ.I:> 7::> '?Y '? 1:>J1110) 1 :1'?N '" 1'l:J7ll 11!"1 ';"I' .;"llZi'lli' 'J'N 'll't!?YIU CIU:I1 17;"10 111 11;"1 ;1p1n1 111J1
nNtm ?J 7!7 '? [?mom] n?om '111J1l1 ?:1 ?Y '? ;m1Jn(1. The first hand of manuscript Leiden
did not write the words in parentheses ( ) but included the words in square brackets [ ].
The second hand adapted both to the printed text. Cf. also the second part of 'Attah Yodea' Razey 'Olam in Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (ed. Davidson, Asafand Yoel, p. 259): ;,
1:>::111113'11111:V ?:1 ;:v u7 '?m11nw u:l?N ,, 1'1~711 11!1. And see the appendix, below.
198
bYoma 87b.
199
See Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (ed. Davidson, Asaf and Yoel, p. 258) gives the
following wording: m?:~ ;1N111 ll:lJ. 1111 ?:1 10~111 ;mN n ;J '1110 mr.n73l'111 c?1:v 't1 Y11' ;"'llN
umm' ?J 7Y u? 7mzmw 1J':l?N"' 11~?0 1111 ;, -1'J'Y 7lJ1J 11101 1'N1 101:1 o7YJ 1J.1 ?J l'K .J.71
ll'YW:> 7J ?Y u? 1:>Jm. For a full translation, see the appendix. Ma'aseh Merkavah
contains a similar prayer: see below, pp. 137-138. Michael Swartz suggests that ''the
author adapted a genre of confessional prayers recited on Yom Kippur for his pmposes."
See M. Swartz, Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism. An Analysis of Ma 'aseh Merkavah
(Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 28; TO.bingen, 1992), pp.ll6-118. For the text,
seeP. Schafer, M. SchlUter and H.G. von Mutius (eds.), Synopse zur Hekhalot-Literatur
(Tfibingen, 1981) 548 [Ma'aseh Merkavah].
53
Mar Shmuel: MiMa 'amaqei Lev (~? 'P~Y~~)

or 'Attah Yodea ''Omqo she/ Lev (~? ?117 1P~1Y Y11' :mN)
or 'Attah Yodea'Ma'amaqei Lev(~?;~ 'P~Y~ Y11' ;~nNY00
Levi: UveToratekha Katuv Lemar (,~N? ~lnJ 1n11n~1)201
Rabbi Yonathan: Ribbon Ha '0/amim (cn?1Y;J 11~,) 202
Rabbi Yehudah: Ki 'Avonoteinu Rabu miLemanot veHatoteino 'Atsmu
203
miLesapper {i~C7ZJ 17j3'311l"'mu:~m n1J?j77j 1:li 1l'nll1l7 ':l)
204
Anonymous: 'Ava/ Hatanu {1lNtln [1lnJN]?~N)
205
Rabbi Harnnuna!Rava: 'E/ohai 'ad shelo Notsarti ('n1~1l N?lll 1Y ;~?N)
'Ava/ Hatanu is defined in the Gemara as the minimum to fulfill the obligations206 'Elohai 'ad she/o Notsarti was also the daily confession of
Rava.207
zoo For the two last incipits 'Attah Yodea' Ma'amaqei Lev and 'Attah Yodea' 'Omqo
she/ Lev attested by ancient witnesses, see Rabbinovicz, Diqduqey Soferim, vol. 4,
P" 309. Israel Abrahams claims to have found the lost version of Shmuel's confession in a
(lost?) Genizah fragment reading: 1'1~7 m1J ~1!' 1'J1J ;"'llN nP7J '11101 J? 'PllY11 Yll' illlN
.;"111'1 1Jll'111Nlll Vll' il11NIU Uil?N " N1;1 ;1111( ;111N1ji'l :VW~1llY NIU1J .1111:11 N7 17.l1.l ll'111Jl111UY1 0'1'?l
'1::11 unwpJ7 1JTN :ltm 11:1'?N " l'J:>'? 0'1111111 UN unun:v "Thou knowest the depths of the
heart and art cognisant of the mysteries of the reins. The imaginations of(all) creatures
are r;vealed before Thee and our devices are not hidden from Thee. Forgiver of iniquity
and transgression wast Thou called, Thou art He, 0 Lord our God who knowest that our
end is the worm. Our iniquities we confess before Thee, 0 Lord our God, incline Thine
ear to our entreaty." Though there is a break here, the confession seems to continue much
longer. See I. Abrahams, "The Lost 'Confession' of Samuel," Hebrew Union Coll:ge
Annual! (1924) 377-85. However, the Genizah manuscript may well be an elaboration
of the enigmatic talmudic incipits from the Middle Ages.
201 Cf. bRH 35a. Manuscript Oxford continues with a quotation from Lev 16:30. The
text of this confession is lost.
202 It is impossible to discern which of the many surviving prayers that begin with this
formula is the talmudic prayer of Rabbi Yonathan.
203 Cf. Ezra 9:6. Manuscript Oxford reads lJ'lll1:.1WM1 instead of unNDm: see
Rabbinovicz, Diqduqey Soferim, vol. 4, p. 309. This confession appears in Seder Rav
Sa'adia Ga'on (ed. Davidson, Asafand Yoel, p. 262) as part of a long confession for the
Ne'ila in lieu of 'Attah Yodea' Razey '0/am.
204 The best Talmud manuscripts and Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (ed. Davidson, Asaf
and Yoel, p. 261) do not read umN: see Rabbinovicz, Diqduqey Soferim, vol. 4, pp. 309310. Pesiqta Rabbati 35 has a long version of the confession very close to that in Seder
Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (additions in square brackets, omissions in parentheses): [1JnlK]7J.N
:111Nl .U'? ;'TliU N7l (O'J1t:l;"1) 1'tl:>WIJ(1J)1 1,111!1J1:11J101 [11'11:11] U111J lJYIO:J (UYW1;J] 1J'1:V;J UNI:l11
US~W1:1 unJK111'ti1Y nnN ::~ u?:v NJ:l 7::~ 7~ pn.
205 The text is given in full: .mxu N? 17'N:I ,111Illlll l'WJ:V .'10:> 'J'N '111:!i"U N71U 1Y :t?N
01Zl1 Nti11N K71U l'J:J'?lJ 11!"1 ':1' .:l7J''?::ll :liUlJ N?Zl 7JJ 1'1!1'? '1K '1;'1 '111l'1.lJ 1Zll111 '?p "11J 'JN 1!lll'
1'110' ,,, 7Y K7 '?J.N 1'7Jll1J P111J 'llNI:llllO.

206
207
bYoma 87b.
For the daily confession, see bBer 17a.
55
The great number and variety of confessions indicate on the one hand
that this part of the service was not fixed until the early Middle Ages. On
the other hand, the Babylonian Talmud's listing of the various confessions
reveals an interest in preserving and canonizing prayers. 208 The increased
number and length of the confessions in comparison to the Bible indicate a
higher level of spiritualization. However, we should not underestimate
their outward aspect as a perceptible manifestation of the otherwise invisible repentance. When the dearth of outward aspects of the temple ritoal
came to be acutely felt, the role of confessions may have increased as a
suitable supplement to the temple rituals.
the temple service.212 Mishnah Yoma 7:1 places the reading of the bi?Iical
descriptions from Leviticus 16 and 23:27-32 and Numbers 29:7-ll m the
. . fr
. 213
temple ritual, perhaps a projectiOn om a synagogue servtce.
.
Other lections were included early without it being possible to pomt to a
specific century. According _to the Babylonian_T~~ud, Leviti~us 18_ (on
incest) is the Torah readmg m the Mmhah serv1ce, wh!le Isruah 57 .l5ff
(probably 57:15-58:14) and Jonah are the Haftarot for Shaharit and
Minhah, respectively.2 15 Leviticus 18 may have been read stmply as a continuation of Leviticus 16 216 Instead of Leviticus 18, Exodus 32:11-14
(Moses interceding on behalf of the people after the incident of the golden
calf) and perhaps also Exodus 34:lff(the second giving of the Law) m1ght
have been read in some Palestinian communities. 217 The contents of Jonah
and Isaiah 57:15-58:14 are closely connected to the ritual of the people on
Yom Kippur. Pseudo-Philo On Jonah can be regarded as the first evidence
for the reading of Jonah on Yom Kippur, but its date of origin is uncertain.2I8 In Palestine, however, Jonah might not have been the Haftarah;
some Jews might have preferred to read !Kings 18:36ff (Elijah and the
prophets ofBa'al).219
54
THE READINGS: Sources on the early readings are scarce, and even where
we have a source, it does not necessarily mean that the readings prescribed
in it were read everywhere - in Palestine as well as in the Babylonian and
Mediterranean diasporas-'09 I would expect people in the Second Temple
period who pray through the whole day to start with texts that are highly
respected and at the same time easily to hand and not having to be composed, such as the biblical descriptions Leviticus 16 and 23:27-32 and
Numbers 29:7-11. 210 4QTargu1(l of Leviticus, the only Aramaic fragment
of the five books of Moses in Qumran, could have served such a liturgical
purpose. 211 Reciting the biblical pericopes on Yom Kippur is a reenactment
of the high-priestly ritual and may well have been performed in
synagogues even at the time of the temple for people who could not attend
208 Did the attitude of the communities behind the Palestinian Talmud (liffer )n this
aspect?
209
For literature on the development of readings, see E. Fleischer, "Annual and Triennial Reading of the Bible in the Old Synagogue" [in Hebrew with English summary]
Tarbiz 61 (1992) 25--43; idem, "Inquiries Concerning the Triennial Reading of the Torah
in Ancient Bretz-Israel" [in Hebrew] Hebrew Union College Annua/61 (1991) 43-61;
J. Offer, "The Masoretic Divisions (Sedarim) in the Books of the Prophets and Hagiographa" [in Hebrew with English summary] Tarbiz 58 (1989) 155-189; A. Shinan, "Sermons, Targums, and the Reading from Scriptures in the Ancient Synagogue," in:
L. Levine (ed.), The Synagogue in Late Antiquity (A Centennial Publication of the Jewish
Theological Seminary of America; Philadelphia, 1987; pp. 97-110). C. Perrot, La Lecture de Ia Bible dans Ia Synagogue. Les anciennes lectures palestiniennes du Shabbat et
des fetes (Publications de l'institut de recherche et d'histoire des textes, section biblique
et massorCtique, collection massorah SCrie I. Etudes Classiques et Textes I; Hildesheim,
1973), esp. pp. 154-157, 195-199 and 265-270.
210
See also Z. Malachi, "The 'Avoda' for Yom Kippur" [in Hebrew], (Ph.D. dissertation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1974), p. 151.
211 Randy Buth has expressed a similar idea in a paper given at the Second Colloquium
on the Rabbinic Background of the New Testament, Jerusalem, July 2002.
Baer, "The Service of Sacrifice in Second Temple Times," p. 112.

Cf. mMeg 3:1;yMeg 3:7, 74b; only the inception is given. While Mishnah Megillah
and the Palestinian Talmud mention only Lev 16 as a reading, the absence of Lev 23:2732 and Num 29:7-11 here does not mean that these texts were not part of the ritual in the
Tannaitic period, given that the Tosefta does include Num 29:7-11 among the readings
(tMeg 3:7; again, only the inception is given). Cf. also the section on the historicity of
Mishnah Yoma, above, particularly p. 25-26.
214 bMeg 31 a; see Elbogen, Der jiidische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung, p. 167.
21s bMeg 31 a; see Elbogen, Der jiidische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung, pp. 182-183.
216 The rabbinic texts indicate only the beginning of the reading in Lev 16. In the
yearly reading cycle, this section goes as far as Lev 18:30. In the longer cycles in Palestine the section might have been shorter. See Tabory, Jewish Festivals in the Time of the
Mishnah and Talmud, p. 292, on alternative traditional explanations for the choice of this
reading.
21 7 Ezra Fleischer, "Piyyut and Prayer in Mahzor Eretz Israel," [in Hebrew] Kiryat
Sefer 63 (1990) 207-262, here p. 245.
2l8 For a discussion of the relation of Pseudo-Philo On Jonah and Yom Kippur, see
below, pp. 57-59; see also the reference to Jonah in De solstitiis et aequinoctiis,
discussed below, p. 253.
219 Fleischer, "Piyyut and Prayer in Mahzor Eretz Israel," p. 246. Jonah is absent from
Genizah founds of Qerobot to Yom Kippur. A more frequent connection could be
expected between Jonah and Yom Kippur in rabbinic texts if it was a widespread reading
on Yom Kippur, as suggested by GUnter Sternberger in a much appreciated e-mail communication observing that the only major discussion of Jonah is Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 10.
212
213
56
The frequent allusions to Isaiah 58 in Christian texts on Yom Kippur,

beginning with Justin Martyr, may also point to an early association in
Jewish ritual, but I cannot preclude that Christians alluded to this chapter
for its contents without knowledge of Jewish liturgical traditions. 220 I suggest that some synagogues may have read the passages already in Tannaitic
times, or even earlier even if they are attested to only in Amoraic tradiw
tions.
Furthermore, long discussions of Hosea 14 in the Babylonian Talmud
and of Psalm 27 in Leviticus Rabbah make it probable that in certain synagogues these texts had some function in the Yom Kippur service or during
the days before, such as Sabbath Shuva. 221
In the Gaonic period in Babylonian academies, the first five verses of
Genesis were also read during the Minhah or Ne'ilah service. 222 Seder Rav
'Amram Ga'on also mentions Obadiah and Micah 7:18-20 for Minhah. 223
Yet I want to stress again that we cannot be sure about the provenance of
most of these readings. Until the lections were unified, many different orw
ders may have been in use in different places.
In addition, Jonah is part of a homilY for Sabbath Sbuva: Pesiqta Rav Kahana 24:1 I (ed.
Mandelbaum, pp. 361-364) and Mishnah Ta'anit2:I connects Jonah to public fasts.
220
Morgenstern even suggests the prophecy preserved in lsa 58 was made on Yom
Kippur: J. Morgenstern, "Two Prophecies of the Fourth Century B.C. and the Evolution
of Yom Kippur,'; Hebrew Union College Annual 24 (1952-1953) 1-74, here pp. 38-39.
On lsa58 in Justin Martyr's Yom Kippur passage, see below, pp. 156. According to
Perrot, La Lecture de Ia Bible dans Ia Synagogue, pp.I95-204, Luke4:18-19, which
combines 1sa 61:1 with lsa 58:6, is based on an old Jewish lectionary tradition. Perrot's
position is accepted by e.g. F. Bovon, Das Evange/ium nach Lukas.]. Teilband. Lk /,19,50 (Evangelisch-Katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament 3:1; ZOrich and Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1989), pp. 211-212.
121
Sabbath Shuva is the Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. For
Hos 14, see bYoma 86a-b; Pesiqta Rav Kahana 24:1-12.17-19 (ed. Mandelbaum,
pp. 347-358, 369, 375-78); and the indirect evidence of the early Christian Roman
lectionaries (see pp. 317-321). On Ps 27 and Yom Kippur, see Leviticus Rabbah 21: l
(ed. Margulies, pp. 473--474). Naomi Goldstein Cohen, "Earliest Evidence of the
Haftarah Cycle for the Sabbaths between the 17th of Tammuz and Sukkoth in Philo,"
Journal of Jewish Studies 48 (1997) 225-249, sees evidence in Philo that the traditional
Haftarot from 17 Tammuz until Sukkot were ftxed already in the first century.
222 See Elbogen, Der jiidische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicldung,
p. 167.
123
For the readings of Obadiah and Micah in Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on, see ed.
Goldschmidt, pp. 166 and 168. For Mic 7:18-20 in Palestinian usage, see Fleischer,
Eretz-Israel Prayer and Prayer Rituals as Portrayed in the Geniza Documents, pp. 134135 and 143. Mic'7:18 is quoted in a Yom Kippur/Sabbath Shuva homily in Pesiqta Rav
Kahana 25:2 (ed. Mandelbaum,p. 381). In Pesiqta Rav Kahana 25, Num 14:18-20 plays
a central role, but this text is never quoted in bYoma.
57

224
A long sermon On Jonah survived uoder the auspices of~hilo. O~gi

lly composed in Greek, it has reached us m an Armeman translatiOn.
;~lker Siegert, who made a detailed investigation of this sermon, suggests
it was written sometime between the second century BCE and the fo~
225
the third
tury CE' in a Hellenistic city. He suggests Alexandria before
cen
noc h'm th
_e
century CE,226 leaving open other options, among them An'
urth century While we cannot be sure that Jonah was read on Yom Kip227
p':rr in other c~mmunities than the one behind ~egillah 31a, ~orne hin~
in the text make it probable for the commumty ~f Pseudo-Philo, too? m
hich case On Jonah is the earliest extant Yom Kippur sermon. The diffi;;!lty lies in deciding if this is a depiction of the Yom Kippur of that period, of some other fast, or of the fast of Jon_ah: The description of the
Ninevites' fast mentions most of the usual affhctwns of a pubhc fast like
Yom Kippur, but this can be explained as merely the bookish influence of
Jonah, without any connection to Yom Kippur. People repent and ~ray and
abstain from food, drink, sex and adornment.228 They walk around m sackcloth and ashes and sleep on the floor. 229 The latter features are not evidence against y om Kippur despite the fact that they do not match the
rabbinic tracts of Yoma, since Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer seems to kn~w. of su~h
practices on Yom Kippur. Yet neither do they support an assoctahon wtth
YomKippur.
.
I would like to draw attention to two rites that match Yom Kippur but
no other public fast. First, the people put on their festal garments m the
faint hope that the judgment may be delayed,230 ~d at the end of the day
they dance.2' 1 These practices match the descnptwns of Chrysostom,
Theodore! and Mishnah Ta 'anit 4:8.232 The mention of festal garments
m Cf. F. Siegert (transl.), Drei hellenistisch-jUdische Predigten. Ps.-Phi/on, '(/be~
Jon a', Ober Simson' und 'Ober die Gottesbezeichnung 'wohltiitig verzehrendes Feuer
Vol. J: Obersetzung aus dem Armenischen und sprachliche Erliiuterungen. Vol. 2: Kom_mentar nebst Beobachtungen zur hel/enistischen Vorgeschichte der Bibelherme?euttk
(2 vols; Wissenschaftlicbe Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 20, 61; Ttibmgen,
1980, 1992).
225 Siegert, Drei he/lenistisch-jUdische Predigten, voL 2, pp. 49-51.
226 Siegert. Drei he/lenistisch-jUdische Predigten, vol. 2, pp. 40-46.
.
121 Jonah is never quoted or even alluded to in Philo: see Y.-M. Duval~ Le lfllre de
Jonas dans Ia /ittl}rature chrJtienne grecque et /aline. Sources et mjluence du
Commentaire sur Jonas de saint Jerome (2 vols; Paris. 1973), p. 77.
m See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (trans!. Siegert I :30, 35, 37, 48).
229 See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (trans!. Siegert 1:37).
230 See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (transl. Siegert I :38).
23 1 See Pseudo-Philo. On Jonah, (trans!. Siegert 1:41 ).
232 This seems more logical to me than the recursion on a distinction between pagan
and Jewish mowning practices as Siegert proposes.
..
r
58
explicitly contradicts the biblical book of Jonah, so this speaks against a

merely "bookish" influence. Its source can plausibly be seen in contemporary Jewish practice on Yom Kippur. Moreover, the author uses the Armenian equivalent for ta1tetv&, to humble oneself,233 which plays so strong a
role in the Septuagint descriptions of Yom Kippur. "They humbled themselves to that extent and exercised such self-control according to the
Scriptures that even their animals became intercessors of their prayers. ,234
Besides these ritual aspects, two conceptual motifs are interesting: God's
position as judge is emphasized, 235 and God is depicted as knowing everything, including sins committed secretly and not admitted in confession. 23 6
"But all (secret) human knowledge was manifested to the (captain) with
complete clarity and put before his eyes by that One, who alone cannot be
237
deceived." The latter motif appears explicitly also in the Delos steles,
the Qumran Yom Kippur prayer 4Q508 2 1-6 and the talmudic 'Attah Yodea' Razey 'Olam. 238 Regarding these observations, it seems plausible that
Pseudo-Philo's sermon On Jonah is not only the earliest sermon on Jonah
but also the earliest evidence for a reading of the prophet on Yom Kippur
and the earliest extant Yom Kippur sermon, even before Pirqe Rabbi
Eliezer 10. 239
t
Regarding the ritual status of the reading, the Mishnah reports that the
high priest in the temple had the choice of performing the readings and the
prayers in the holy linen garments or in a simple white stole. Why does the
Mishnah mention such freedom in the most sacred ritual? If the description
reflects actual practice, some of the high priests apparently considered the
reading and the prayer as part of the avodah, i.e. the obligatory and effective part of the main liturgy of the day, while others did not. 240 On the
213
See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (trans I. Siegert 1:37).

See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (transl. Siegert 1:37). Siegert translates: "Sie
erniedrigten sich aber dermaJ3en und Ubten schriftgemaB solche Selbstbeherrschung, daB
(sogar) ihre Haustiere zu Verteidigern ihrer Gebete wurden."
235
E.g. Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (trans!. Siegert 1:11).
236
See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (trans!. Siegert I :11 and 23).
237
See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (transl. Siegert 1: II). Siegert translates: "Doch alles
(geheime) menschliche Wissen brachte derjenige, der allein unhintergehbar ist, dem
(Kapitan) zu untrtiglicher Klarheit und stellte es (ibm) vor Augen."
238
See above pp. 39 and 48, note 172.
239
Cf. Friedlander (p. 66, note 5); Duval, Le livre de Jonas dans Ia littirature
chritienne grecque et latine, p. 98, note 146.
240
Most commentators (incl. the Talmudim) consider the freedom to wear or not to
wear the white garments as a sign that the prayer and the readings did not belong to the
avodah. But this would have been the case only if the high priest had always changed to
the white gannents or if one applies the logics of later (supposedly eternally valid)
rationales to earlier rituals. If a high priest opted to continue reading in the holy linen
234
'
59
other hand, if the description does not reflect actual practice, this choice
might reflect two Tannaitic attitudes to the relation between the verbal reenactment in the synagogne and the high-priestly avodah in the temple stressing more strongly either the continuous or the substitutive aspect.
THE SEDER A VODAH: The most peculiar part of the prayers of Yom Kippur
is the reciting of a Seder Avodah. 241 Today, Seder Avodah is the term for
very sophisticated religious poems (piyyutim ), which usually have three
parts - an account of the creation, a history of men from Adam and Eve
until Aaron, and a description of the high-priestly ritual on Yom Kippur.
For our survey of early post-temple practices, the Sidrei Avodah are very
interesting rituals, beirig complete verbal reenactments combined with such
liturgical gestures as prostratiOI;I. Some key passages appear in almost all
Sidrei Avodah and are so important that they even influenced the text of
the Mishnah. 242 They mark those rites of the temple ritual that the high
priest (supposedly) performed with words: the three confessions with the
responses of the people and the two countings that accompanied his sprink-
garments, he probably did this to indicate the continuity. It is often more reasonable to
assume a conceptual change behind a change in practice than to reconstruct a common
rationale for both.
24 1 On Sidrei Avodah, see Malachi, The 'Avoda' for Yom Kippur''; Mirsky, Yosse ben
Yosse Poems; M. Zulai (ed.), Piyyutey Yannai [in Hebrew] (Berlin, 1938); Z.M. Rabinovitz (ed.), Mahzor Piyyutey Rabbi Yannai leTorah uleMo'adim [in Hebrew] (2 vols;
Jerusalem, 1985-87); J. Yahalom (ed.), Priestly Palestinian Poetry. A Narrative Liturgy
for the Day of Atonement [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem, 1996); idem, Poetry and Society in
Jewish Galilee of Late Antiquity [in Hebrew] (Tel Aviv, 1999), esp. pp. 107-136; M.
Swartz, "Ritual about Myth about Ritual: Towards an Understanding of the Avodah in
the Rabbinic Period," Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 6 (1997) 135-155;
idem, "Sage, Priest, and Poet. Typologies of Religious Leadership in the Ancient Synagogue," in: S. Fine (ed.), Jews, Christians, and Polytheists in the Ancient Synagogue.
Cultural Interaction during the Greco-Roman Period (Baltimore Studies in the History
of Judaism; London and New York, 1999; pp. 101-117). M. Swartz and J. Yahalom have
prepared an English translation of some Sidrei Avodah.
242 The prostration of the people in response to the mention of the Tetragrammaton in
the high priest's confession was not part of the original reading of the Mishnah. It does
not appear in the most reliable manuscripts nor is it commented upon in the Talmudim.
Apparently, the liturgical formulations of the Sidrei Avodah entered so deeply into the
beads of the people that their elaborated form influenced the copiers of the Mishnah. See
Rabbinovicz, Diqduqey Soferim, val. 4, p. 183; also the discussion in Rosenberg,
"Mishna 'Kipurim'," vol. 1, pp. 126-142, especially 139-142. This becomes important in
the discussion of the Hekhalot texts, demonstrating a closer relationship of the latter to
the (priestly?) pi}yutim than to the rabbinic tracts. See pp. 134--139, below.
60
61
ling of the blood.243 These sentences, distinguished from the rest of the
poems by their prose form (and at least today by raising the voice), mark
the central actions of the high-priestly ritual, the confessions on buii and
scapegoat, the mention of the ineffable name, and the sprinkling of the
buii's and the sacrificial goat's blood in the holy of holies. This matches
the obligation expressed in Seder Rav 'Amram Ga 'on to read a Seder Avodah "with sprinklings and confessions."244 Today, the Seder Avodah is
read only during the Mussaf service. This is an achievement of the
Gaonim, who chailenged the common custom to recite a Seder Avodah in
each of the three prayers of the Day of Atonement. The Mussaf best
observing either the high-priestly reading and prayer or the burning of the
sin offerings. "Who sees the high priest reading does not see the bull and
the goat burning, and who sees bull and goat burning does not see the high
matches a liturgical reenactment of the temple service, since both are set at
the same time and since in the temple the special festival sacrifices are of-
word and of the sacrifices presupposes that both rites belong to the same
category, but the determination that the two are equal goes even beyond
that. 250 If watching the high priest reading the prescriptions for Yom Kip-
fered during the Mussaf. 245

The practice of reading a Seder Avodah has two roots: first, the transition of the temple cult from a one-man performance to one-man show with
participation of the people; second, the interest in implementing the biblical prescriptions and the temple cult in the synagogue.
Regarding the first root, the transition from the purely cultic concept of
a rite performed in a secret holy place by a special person to a more col-
lective ritual may already be perceived in the temple. Sirach describes the
presence of spectators at the high-priestly sacrifices in the temple.246 Elbogen has rightly noted that such observation by outsiders who get involved by praying on the outskirts of the temple changes the purely cultic
concept of temple worship into a more edifying one. 247 In other words, not
only the cultic performance itself is important, but also the participation
(by observation) of those gathered. This change had already taken place at
priest reading - not because he is not allowed to, but because the distance
is great and the work of both is equal. " 249 From this key sentence we can
conclude that in the opinion of the editors of the Mishnah the watching of
the temple liturgy was as important as the participation in it. Furthermore,
the Mishnah considers the reading to be as important as the burning of the
sacrifices, since the Mishnah underscores that it does not matter which of
the two rites one sees. This comparison of the liturgic importance of the
pur was as important as watching the performance of the prescribed sacrifices, this is the frrst step to a virtual verbal reenactment of the whole
temple service, like the Seder Avodah. 251

The second root of the custom of reciting a Seder Avodah was almost
certainly the early custom of reading biblical Yom Kippur passages. 252
None of the extant Second Temple sources proposes any reenactment of
the temple ritual. This does not preclude the possibility that such a reenactment was part of the liturgies in Qumran or Alexandria However, the
theories that see a Seder Avodah in 1Q34 3 ii II 4Q509 97+98 or the influence of a Seder Avodah behind Philippians 2:6-11 or Colossians 1:12-20
need more supporting evidence. 253 The same is true for the recent sugges-
tion ofMenahem Kister to see a Seder Avodah in 5Q13 254

In Philo's account of the prayers, he is very brief regarding his explicit
at the latest. 248 Sirach's evidence is
statement about the enormous length of the Yom Kippur service. 255 We can
supported by Mishnah Yoma, which emphasizes the equal importance of
only speculate about the rest of the prayers of his community. Philo
betrays a detailed acquaintance with the Halakhah of the temple ritual
beyond the biblical sources. His information may stem from a Seder
Avodah 256 Similarly, it is not improbable that Barnabas is based on such a
the time of Sirach, i.e. around 200
CE,
243
Malachi, "The Avoda' for Yom Kippur,"' p. 154, states that the reenactment of the
sprinklings belongs to a later stage, since they are not included in most Sidrei Avodah.
However, they are included in Shtv'at Yamim (ozp llJI':JW) and in Yose ben Yose's 'Azkir
Gevurot 'Eioah (;n'?M nl11::ll 11JTM) for Mussaf and 'Asapper Gedolot (m'?nl 1!ION) for
Minhah. Yose's 'Attah Konanta (il11JJ1J ;,nN) (for Shaharit) does not include the formula.
The two Sdarim edited by Yahalom ( 'Az be 'Ein Kol and 'Aromem le 'El) have lacunae at
these parts.
244
Goldschmidt, Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on, p. 168:7-8.
245
Hoffman, The Canonization of the Synagogue Service, pp. 108--110.
246
Sir 50:17-21.
247
Elbogen, Studien zur Geschichte desjiidischen Gottesdienstes, p. 52.
248
Despite the great influence of the end of Sirach on Sidrei Avodah and other Yom
Kippur piyyutim in language, content and structure, it is not in itself a Seder Avodah: see
Roth, ..Ecclesiasticus in the Synagogue Service."'
249
mYoma 7:1, my translation, with emphasis added.

Cf. Sir4:14, which compares the study of Torah to temple liturgy.
251
Even if the statement does not reflect the Second Temple period, it elucidates the
rationale behind the recitation of the biblical passages in the synagogue service.
252
See also Malachi, "The 'Avoda' for Yom Kippur," p. 151.
253 1Q34 3 ii has been seen as a Seder Avodah by Grintz. For a discussion, see above,
p. 43. For a brief discussion of a Seder Avodah as a possible background to Philippians
and Colossians, see below, pp. 206-212, below.
254
Kister, "5Ql3 and the 'Avodah." See above, p. 44-45.
255
See above, p. 46.
256
25(1
62
The Rituals ofYom Kippur
Seder Avodah. 257 Its author is acquainted with details of the Halakhah and
speaks of a written source, which might perhaps have been of a liturgical
nature.
It is only around 400 CE that we reach safe ground. The Babylonian
Talmud alludes to the recitation of a Seder Avodah in the prayer. 258 Moreover, two tiny fragments, most probably of Sidrei Avodah from around
400 CE, were unearthed in Oxyrhynchus. 259
In the nineteenth century, scholars proposed that if one takes out a few
of the disputes and some thematic digressions, Mishnah Yoma might once
have served as such a liturgical text. Some even tried to reconstruct such
an "Ur-"Seder Avodah. 260 This hypothesis was corroborated when, in 1907,
Elbogen published some Genizah fragments with a prose Seder Avodah
Shiv'at Yamim 261 remarkably similar to Mishnah Yoma with the necessary
adaptations and some additional lines from the Bible, Tosefta and Mishnah
Tamid. 262 Elbogen does not give a date for the fragment, but it is likely to
be earlier than the earliest poetic Sidrei Avodah of the fourth or fifth
century by Yose ben Yose and his companions.263 Shiv'at Yamim seems to
have been kept in use for a long time, as the Seder Rav 'Amram Ga 'on
(ninth century) refers to it as one of the customary Sidrei Avodah,264 highly

honored by occupying first place on the list of Seder Rav 'Amram Ga 'on.
With regard to Shiv 'at Yamim, we carmot simply suppose that the present wording is the same as that used when it was frrst written in the second, third or fourth century, since the manuscript includes later
traditions. 265 Nevertheless, we can still deduce two important arguments
from it. First, the invention of reciting a Seder Avodah does not necessarily
demand a priestly origin. 266 Second, if Shiv 'at Yamim originally began directly with the preparatory week of the high priest and was circulated
without a poetic preface from Genesis to Aaron's ordination, this is quite a
strong argument against any attempt to suppose that connections to Yom
Kippur underlie some New Testament hymns combining creatioti and
atonement. 267 Usually, the argument is based on the connection of these
elements in the poetic Sidrei Avodah, but it neglects that the earliest Seder
Avodah, Shiv 'at Yamim, does not reflect this combination. Of comse, it is
possible in principal that the connection between creation, history of sin,
'
63
264 Goldschmidt, Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on, p. 168:5-8. The other options referred to
are: 'Azkir Sela (;'170 1'JTI(), 'Attah Konanta (;'1m.m ;mN), 'Atsaltsel (7I7!K) and 'Ashanen
(lJw)251

While the subject of bYomo 36b might have been a simple confession without an
elaborate Seder Avodah, b Yoma 56b clearly alludes to the transition from the sprinkling
in the holy of holies to the sprinkling of the veil. Raba corrects the leader of the prayer
who mingles the majority opinion with the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah. Elbogen's fragments display the reading according to Raba's correction (fragment A, p. l9,lines 13-14:
Elbogen, Studien zur Geschichte des jiidischen Gottesdienstes, p. 108).
259
In 1915, Cowley published two very tiny Hebrew papyrus fragments from
Oxyrhynchus that clearly deal with Yom Kippur and might well have been part of a
Seder Avodah (A. Cowley, Journal/or Egyptian Archeology [1915] 211-212). Having
little material for comparison (even less before the fmdings of Qumran, Mezada and
Muraba'at), he suggests the broad period from the third to the fifth century CE, opting for
400 CE. The frrst fragment reads: ... ]1ZHI7 7[ ... ] llll1 '::>!:1!17[ . ] D'JY '1'Ylll[ ... ]o7N 'J7n[ ... The
second fragments reads: 'llll[ ... n]mm7 17 1R[ ... ];'17li' D[ ... ]lll11!:17J Olll:J. [ .. .1]1;'1tm ["] 'J!:17[...
... ]7 711l;'ll'7!7 [... ]n1711l
260
J. Derenbourg, "Essai de restitution de l'ancienne redaction de Massichet Kippourim," Revue des itudesjuives 6 (1882) 41-80; and H. Strack (ed.), Joma. Der Mischnatraktat 'VersOhnungstag' (Schriften des Institutum Judaicum in Berlin 3; Leipzig,
'1904).
261 This Seder Avodah is called Shiv'at Yamim (O'IJ' nYJt!7) ("Seven Days") after its
inception.
262
Elbogen, Studien zur Geschichte des jiidischen Gottesdienstes, "Anhang 1," pages
102-117.
263 The Palestinian Talmud calls the readings from Lev 16 and Lev 23:26--32 7w 1110
m (yMeg 4:5, 75b).
258
26~
E.g. the high-priestly prayer in the holy of holies. See bYoma 53b.
Yosef Yahalom and Michael Swartz have suggested that many of the early poetic
Sidrei Avodah were written by priests. The poetic Sidrei Avodah reflect a different
conception of priesthood and atonement from the rabbinic texts, which are usually quite
critical toward priests. However, I cannot identify a priestly attitude already in Shiv 'at
Yamim, which is much more focused on the Mishnah than are the later Sidrei Avodah.
One gloss may point to a slightly pro-priestly attitude: a statement regarding the high
priest that "Israel's purity depends on you" (fragment p. 14 line 8-9: see Elbogen,
Studien zur Geschichte des jiidischen Gottesdienstes, p. l04). On the other hand, Shi'v 'at
Yamim does not skip the embarrassing passage on the high priest who has to swear
loyalty to the rabbinic practice of Yom Kippur, but even embellishes it (fragment p. 13,
lines 1-13: see Elbogen, Studien zur Geschichte desjiidischen Gottesdienstes, pp. 103104). Furthermore, it changed the passage about people reading before the high priest to
"they read before him the 'Seder HaYom' and teach him the 'Seder Yom HaKippurim',"
thus reinforcing the intellectual inferiority of the high priest. On the other hand, Elbogen
included a preface to Shiv'at Yamim in his appendix, a short alphabetic poem 'Attah
Barata covering the creation of the world to the appointment of Aaron and his sons
(Elbogen, Studien zur Geschichte des jiidischen Gottesdienstes, pp. 116-117). We do not
know when this preface was added to Shiv 'at Yamim, but here Aaron is clearly the hero
of Yom Kippur and not the inferior clerk of the rabbinic tracts.
2
fi7 Cf. the section on Phi12:6-l1 and Coll:13-20 on pp. 206--212, below. On the basis
that these hymns combine atonement with creation, the common first part of poetic Sidrei
Avodah, a number of scholars have assumed a connection to Yom Kippur. Grintz, "A
Seder Avodah for Yom Kippur from Qumran," proposed one of Qumran's Festival
Prayers (IQ34 3 ii) as the earliest Seder Avodah (see above, p. 43 note 150).
266
history of the forefathers of Aaron and Yom Kippur was made as early as
the Second Temple period, but then we would have to assume that Shiv 'at
Yamim skipped the combination of creation and atonement.
Joseph Yaha!om and Michael Swartz perceive a more positive description of the high priest in the Sidrei Avodah, in opposition to the rabbinic
portrayals.268 The Tannaitic literature, whieh describes the high priests as
little more than stupid clerks, tried to bolster the position of the non-
of the Sabbath Sacrifice, the text of the Festival Prayers does not display a
particularly close affiliation to the temple ritual. An influence of the
64
priestly sages. The Amoraic literature reflects two conflicting tendencies:
like the Tannaites, a further diminution of the historical (high) priests; and
a reappraisal, as in the piyyutim. Yahalom and Swartz explain the difference between piyyutim and parts of the rabbinic literature by supposing
that priestly groups, who have a stronger position in the liturgy of the
synagogues, are responsible for the composition of these Sidrei Avodah.
We koow that priestly circles remained very important after the transition
of the spiritual centers of Judaism from Jerusalem to the Galilee. They
lived in organized neighborhoods and kept records on which watch was to
serve in the temple.
I do not think that we can regard the increasing importance of priests as
being distinct from the parall~l rise of priesthood and high-priestly Christo logy in Christianity of the third and fourth centuries. The argument of
Yahalom and Swartz can be supplemented by a further factor, one that is
not intracultural but intercultural: the reappraisal of the ideal historical
high priests can be understood as a Jewish reaction to the evolving highpriestly Christology. The inclusion oflong praises of Levi and his sons and
the complete silence about his rival, Melchizedek, in the Sidrei Avodah is
only one example. I will discuss this question further in the discussion of
Jewish-Christian polemics.269
Conclusion: Prayers in and outside the Temple
Qumranic, Philonic and rabbinic prayers share several motifs, which, however, are not close and numerous enough to point to an extensive continuous tradition. In the Second Temple period, prayers became a major focus
of the ritual of public fasts in and outside the temple. According to Philo as
well as rabbinic statements, they filled the entire day. In a certain sense,
prayers also connected the rituals in and outside the temple. The high
priest prayed at the end of his sacrificial ceremony, and some see in this
the origin of Qumran's Festival Prayers- although, unlike e.g. the Songs
263 See the introduction in Yahalom, Priestly Palestinian Poetry; and Swartz, "Sage,
Priest, and Poet," p. 158, note 68, with reference to the earlier works by Goitein and
Mirsky.
269 See pp. 283-288, below.
65
synagogal prayers on the high priest's concluding prayer seems more
likely. Ritual reenactments of the high priest's ritual were probably part of
the service in some synagogues of the Second Temple period, especially in
the form of reading the biblical descriptions (or a translation or a paraphrase of them). We can only speculate if some Second Temple communities even used a kind of Seder Avodah. Most likely, confessions were
part of the ritual in the communities using Qumran's Festival Prayers, and
in Alexandria, long before they became the main part of the rabbinic
liturgy. This points to a certain "individualization" of Yom Kippur in the
time of the Second Temple: private confessions were added on top of the
high priest's vicarious confession.
3.3 A Controversial, Popular Blood Sacrifice: kapparot
Probably the most famous rite of post-temple Yom Kippur is the kapparot.
We do not koow exactly how old this rite is.270 It is mentioned explicitly
for the first time only in the early Gaonic age in Persia by Rav Sheshna
(ca. 650 CE), but he already refers to it as ancient. 271 His quite detailed description of the ritual goes as follows:
The agent who performs it takes hold of the rooster and places (n'JZJ) his hand
upon its head. Then, removing his hand from the head of the rooster, he places it
upon the head of the person for whom the ceremony is performed (1:>J117J) and
says. "This (rooster] shall be instead of this (person); this rooster shall be the substitute (~17'n) for this person; this rooster shall be the ransom (7ln7J) for this person
[or, this person is to be redeemed (v. lect. 771n7J) by this rooster.J''m
270
The early witnesses for this ceremony have been investigated by J.Z. Lauterbach,
Rabbinic Essays (Cincinnati, 1951), pp. 354-378. He also pursued developments in the
centuries following Sheshna: see idem, "The Ritual for the Kapparot Ceremony," in:
idem, Studies in Jewish Law, Custom and Folklore (New York, 1970; pp. 133-142). Y.
Gartner, "The History of the kapparot Rite Regarding the Custom of Marseilles," (in
Hebrew] Sinai 114 (1994) 198--217, published another text for the rite of Marseilles. See
also I. Scheftelowitz, Das ste/lvertetende Huhnopfer. Mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung
des jiidischen Volksglaubens (Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten 14/3;
Giessen, 1914).
211
See the letter of Rav Sheshna from Sura, quoted in Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays,
pp. 355-357.
212
Today a different formula is used, e.g. the father of the family takes the bird and
swings it around his head or that of the "benefited" saying something like: "This is
my/your exchange (:1:>'7n), this is my/your substitute (:1117Jn), this is my/your atonement
(i11!1J). This rooster/hen will go to its death while 1/you will enter and proceed to a good
long life, and to peace." Quoted after the modern rite in Scherman, The Complete
ArtScro/1 Machzor Yom Kippur Nusach Ashkenaz, pp. 2-5, here 2-3.
66
H~ then swings the rooster around the head of the person for whom it is to be 3
substtt~te, while reciting the following words: 273 "A life for a life." He does th
seven t!Dles.
IS
He then places his hand upon the head of the rooster, saying, "This rooster
shall go out to death in~tead of t!tis person." Then he places his hand upon the
head of the person who IS to recetve atonement by this ceremony, saying, "Thou,
so and so, ~e son of so and so, shalt enter into life and thou shalt not die." This he
does three times.
Then the person for whom the substitute is offered places his hand upon the
hea~ o~the r?oster, as a sort ofi'IJ'lJO [the ceremony of laying the hands upon the
~acnfi~tal ammal]. _He lays his hand (~1J101) upon it [the rooster] and slaughters it
munedtately, thus m a manner followmg the rule prescribed for sacrifices vi
that the slaughtering of the sacrificial victim must follow immediately the' cer:~
many of the laying on of hands. 274
The ritual includes gestures and a benediction expressing substitution.21s

S~me ele~e~ts are repeated three or seven times, a feature often associated
With magzc ntuals. The entrails are commonly thrown onto the street or the
roof, ':here the birds feed on them, and the meat is given to the poor.276
Bo~h nte~ are common methods of obtaining release from some kind of sin
or IID_Punty. Rav Sheshna does not give the exact time of performance for
this ntu_al, but traditionally itis during the night or the morning preceding
Yo~ _Kzpp~. Not only roosters were used. 277 Rav Sheshna mentions rich
famzhes ~smg rams (o'?'N). "The essential thing - according to these
people - IS that the animal should be of the kind that has horns like the
ram that was offered instead of our father Isaac. " 278 He himseif prefers
roosters because they are cheaper and, symbolically, the Hebrew 1Jl can
mean rooster as well as man. 279
. Jacob Laut_erbach suggested that a background to the kapparot, espeCially that With horned animals, is provided by identification of two
mythological sacrifices with the scapegoat: the ram that Abraham sacri-
67
ficed instead of Isaac280 and the male goat with whose blood Joseph's
brothers colored his coat and tried to fool their father.2 81 He refers to a
passage from Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Leviticus for a combination of
these ideas together with the golden calf.182 The kapparot with a ram combines the functions of an apotropaic sacrifice to Satan/'Az'azel and areminder to God of the forefathers' merits. That sacrifice of a ram can also
be seen as sacrifice to the evil powers alone can be learned from the
Midrash, preserved in the late collection Yalqut Shim 'oni. 283
To what extent is the kapparot a substitution for the scapegoat rite? 284
Shesbna's description and his sacrificial terminology demonstrate amply
that the kapparot is a ritual killing of an animal for an expiatory purpose.
Rav Sheshna uses sacrificial terminology such as ;JJ"'?.lO and regulations for
sacrifices (the slaughtering follows immediately after the laying on of one
hand). Unlike the scapegoat ritual, however, no confession is spoken and
only one hand is laid on the animal. Still, the performance does look like a
sacrifice intended for Satan, a revival of the scapegoat, especially if homed
animals are used. 285 It was precisely this misleading closeness to sacrifices
that was one of the reasons for medieval halakhic authorities objecting to
the rite 286 Yet, despite the fact that the kapparot were strongly opposed by
numerous great authorities like Nachmanides, Rashba and Rabbi Y osef
Qaro, it remained popular throughout the ages. This is probably due to the
deep psychological impression the ritual makes on the performer and the
spectators and the need to perform some act ensuring atonement. Ritual
blood spilling and detachment of the entrails embodying the sins fulfilled
these psychological needs better and more visibly than a mere verbal recounting of the temple ritual.
273
,. I omitI a .long quotation ofPs 107:10-21, Job 3324

. _ Trans atton by l.Z. Lauterbach, Studies in Jewish Law, Custom and Folklore
(Edtted by Bernard J. Bamberger; New York, 1970), pp. 356-357. The words in
parentheses ( )_ are _additions by Lauterbach, those in square brackets [ ] are additions
from the text given m a note on the previous page.
275
Usually the pater fami/ias buys a hen for each female and a cock for each male
family member. See the letter ofRav Sheshna from Sura, quoted in Lauterbach Rabbinic
Essays, p. 356. Today, white is the preferable color.
'
~; Lauterbach, Stud~es in Jewish Law, Custom and Folklore, p. 369.
Much later Rasht speaks of the poor using sacks of beans (on bSabb 81 b): see
L;,~terbach, Studies in Jewish Law, Custom and Folklore, pp. 370-373.
Rav Sheshna from Sura, quoted in Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, p. 356.
279
See Lauterbach, Rabbinic &says, p. 356.
280
Gen 22:13.
Gen 37:31-33.
282
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Leviticus 9:3.
283
See the discussion of this passage on pp. 12&-129, below.
284
In modem prayer books one often Imds the argument to use a rooster, because it is
an animal that could not be sacrificed in the Jerusalem temple and does not raise the
suspicion that the kapparot could be mistaken for a prohibited sacrificial rite outside the
sanctuary. This argument is much more recent than Sheshna. Furthermore, this argumentation is true only for the theologian, not for the anthropologist or the performer of the
rite.
m Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, p. 365.
286
Lauterbach, Studies in Jewish Law, Custom and Folklore, pp. 357-358, note 77.
281
69
3.4 Pagan and Christian Descriptions of Contemporary Yom Kippur Rites
Eusebius Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria and Jacob of Sarug.

For
of
the
three
autumn
festivals
is
amply
demoustrated
by
"ders'
this
unity
OtU S l ,
an explicit statement of the ninth-century Syriac ~xegete Ihdd"lnh
s o a : . ~ e
eventh lunar month, first Tishri, there is a fest1val from the begmmng
s fl the twenty-first day."290 This misapprehension illustrates that for the
:~-Jewish observer the festivals, being so close chronologically, might
appear to be one long festival. Moreover, tw~ details ~f Plutarch's
description match not only Sukkot but also Yom Kippur: the Joyful context
of the dances in the vineyards and the fesllve meal as breaking of the fast
after sunset?91 It is therefore quite plausible to see Plutarch's description
as a firsthand outside observation that is slightly confused.
The satirist Juvenal (ca. 60--130 CE) wrote the most delightful lines on
Yom Kippur:
68
3.4.1 Pagan Texts

Jewish festivals, with the exception of the Sabbath, are not very prominent
in pagan texts. Menahem Stem in the index to his magnificent Greek and
Roman Authors on Jews and Judaism lists only two passages for Yom Kippur, 287 and he rejects them in his commentary - unjustifiably, as we shall
see.
In an attempt to portray Judaism as a variant cnlt of Dionysus, Plutarch
(ca. 40--120 CE) turns to some of the Jewish festivals, among them Yom
Kippur and Sukkot:
The time and character of the greatest, most sacred holiday of the Jews clearly befit Dionysus. When they celebrate their so-called Fast (ti)v yU.p AEYO!l&vt]v
Vl]atriav). at the height of the vintage, they set out tables of all sorts of fruit under
tents and huts plaited for the most part of vines and ivy. They call the first of the
days of the feast Tabernacles
(oiCTIV1)v) ... 288
According to Stern, Plutarch's use of Yom Kippur is a mistake and he is

really referring only to Sukkot. Yet Plutarch may well reflect the impression of an outside observer of the festivals of Yom Kippur and Sukkot.
Philo, too, emphasizes the time of the fast in the middle of the harvest period. Authors more acquainted with Judaism than Plutarch who certainly
were firsthand observers confused Sukkot and Yom Kippur, among them
287
Stem, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism. In addition to the two
passages discussed here, one should mention the passage of Hecateus of Abdera referred
to below (seep. 109, note 149), whose description of the Jewish high priest may have
been influenced by the temple ritual of Yom Kippur with its entrance to the holy of
holies and the prostration of the people. A fourth passage, a letter of Augustus to
Tiberius, probably confuses Sabbath and Yom Kippur: "Not even a Jew, my dear
Tiberius, fasts so scrupulously on his Sabbaths (di/igenter sabbatis ieiunium servat) as I
have to-day; for it was not until after the first hour of the night that I ate two mouthfuls
of bread in the bath before I began to be anointed." (Suetonius, Divus Augustus 76:2,
translation by J.C. Rolfe in LCL). Stern, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism,
vol. 2, p. 110, comments that other classical authors express the same notion of a fast on
the Sabbath. Heinrich Lewy observed that it may have been one of the names of Yom
Kippur, Sabbath of Sabbaths that caused this confusion: see H. Lewy, "Philologisches
aus dem Talmud," Philologus 84 (I929) 377-398, here pp. 390--391. For the possibility
that in Rome, Yom Kippur was kept on a Sabbath, see D. Stlikl Ben Ezra, "Whose Fast Is
It? The Ember Day and Yom Kippur," in: A.H. Becker and A. Reed (eds.), The Ways
That Never Parted: Jews and Christians in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Texts
and Studies in Ancient Judaism 95; Tnbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003; pp. 259-282).
288
Plutarch, Quaestiones Convivales 4:6:2, 6710, translation by H.B. Hoffleit in LCL;
cf. Stern, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, vol. I, p. 557.
289
[This diamond] was given as a present long ago by the barbarian Agripp~ to his
incestuous sister, in that country where kings celebrate festal Sabbaths With bare
292
feet, and where a long-established clemency suffers pigs to attain old age.
Again, Stern rejects that this passage reflects Yom Kipp~ and, following a
suggestion by Friedlander, refers to the general obhgatwn to remove the
shoes on entering the Temple Mount. Heinrich Lewy, however, suggests
m Eusebius, Demonstratio Evangelica I :3:2 (Yom Kippur as one of the three

pilgrimages); Chrysostom, Against the Jews I: 1 (wrong order); even more so on page
t23a of the newly found manuscript of Against the Jews 2, where he speaks of a fast on
Sukkot; see also Cb.rysostom, Christmas Homily 5 (PG 49:357BC); Cyril of Alexandri~
Commentary on Isaiah 1:14 (PG 70:36C); Jacob of Sarug, Homily on the Scapegoat, m
P. Bedjan, Homiliae Se/ectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis (Leipzig and Paris, 1907), vol. 3,
pp.259,263,267,275.
290 Did Ishodad know neither Shemini 'Azeret on Tishri 22 nor Simhat Torah? The text
continues: "At the beginning of the month is the festival of thanksgiving, that of the
harvest; and on the tenth is the day of expiation [~]. on which they fast and are
idle; and from the fifteenth to the twenty-first is [the festival] of booths. On the day of
expiation, the priest expiates and sanctifies the holy of holies and the altar in order that
they be no longer rendered impure because of the fault of those who were not proper to
serve as priests. Regarding this God issued the reproach: 'They have defiled my name
and my altar'." My translation ofishodad, Commentary on Leviticus 23:23-26, following
C. van den Eynde (ed.), Commentaire d'lso'dad de Merv sur /'Ancien Testament. 11.
Exode-Deuttironome (CSCO 176, Scriptores Syri 80; Louvain, 1958), p. 84 (cf. his
French translation in CSCO 81, p. 112). On Ishodad, see C. Leonhard,lshodad ofMerw's
Exegesis ofthe Psalms I 19 and 139-147. A Study ofHis Interpretation in the Light of the
Syriac Translation of Theodore ofMopsuestia's Commentary (CSCO 585; Subsidia 107;
Leuven, 2001).
291
Cf. mTa'an 4:8 and mYoma 7:4.
292 Juvenal, Saturae 6:157-160, translation by G.G. Ramsay in LCL; cf. Stem, Greek
and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, voJ. 2, p. 100.
the custom of walking barefoot on Yom Kippur. 293 Four arguments support
Lewy's suggestion over Stem's and Friedlander's. First, the rite of walking
publicly with bare feet on Yom Kippur attracted the attention of other observers, too. 294 Second, the mention of the Sabbath is more reasonably
associated with a special day such as Yom Kippur than is the prohibition
against entering the temple with shoes, which is valid every day. Moreover, the Sabbath is confused with Yom Kippur also in other passages for example, in Augustus' letter. 295 Third, Juvenal was more likely to have
heard about the king walking barefoot on a Yom Kippur in Rome than
about the king's barefoot entry to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Fourth,
the moment of absurdity (in Roman eyes) lies in the concept that a king
would celebrate a festival barefooted - i.e. with a mourning custom rather than in the common practice of removing the shoes before entering a
sacred precinct. The latter would not be considered amusing.
In suro, none of the pagan references to Yom Kippur is a straightforward description; all are problematic, especially the frrst. We can consider
this result as a cup half full or half empty. The cup is half empty because
pagans seem to have taken little notice of Yom Kippur. On the other hand
it is half full because in the pagan texts Yom Kippur is the "most famous"
festival after the Sabbath296
who mention the practice of fasting and mourning might be using exegetical deduction from the juxtaposition of "hurobling" and "fasting" in
psalms 34:13 or Isaiah 58:4--5 with Leviticus 16 and Jonah. While for
many, "the fast" is the name for the Day of Atonement instead of the biblical Yom Kippur, this notion may be derived from the descriptions of
Phiio.299
Praying, the central rite, is mentioned only by Tertullian and Ephrem.
was prayer perhaps too private to be noticed in closed synagogues? The
earliest Christian description of Yom Kippur outside the temple - that by
Tertullian, On Fasting 16, suggests the opposite location, open space:
70
3.4.2 Christian Texts

Christian knowledge of Jewish Yom Kippur rites was fairly general
(though much more specific than the pagan texts), mentioning the date and
the rites of praying, fasting, walking barefoot, dancing and assembling in
open places as well as various mourning practices. Most descriptions
appear, however, in a polemical context susceptible to fabrication. 297 It is
therefore crucial to distinguish between imaginary descriptions and
references to actual Jewish ritual. Only those Christians who refer to nonbiblical rites other than fasting and mourning can be considered eyewitnesses.298 References to sackcloth and ashes in the mourning rites may
reflect polemical topoi based on Isaiah 58, Jonah and Matthew 6:17 rather
than personal observation of Jewish celebrations. Those Christian authors
293
Lewy, "Philologisches aus dem Talmud," pp. 390-391.

See the discussion on nudipedalia in the Christian texts, below, pp. 74-75.
295
See above, p. 68, note 287.
296
According to the index in Stem, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism,
Passover and Shavuot do not seem to have been mentioned at ali, and Sukkot is referred
to only in the passage quoted above.
297
For further analysis of passages by the Church Fathers on Yom Kippur, see
pp. 262-289, below.
298
For a discussion of this question, see pp. 277-283, below.
294
71
A Jewish fast (Iudaicum ieiunium), at all events, is celebrated everywhere; while,

neglecting the temples (temp/is), throughout all the shore, in every open place, at
length they send prayer[s] up to heaven. And, albeit by the dress and ornamentation they disgrace the duty of mourning, still they pretend loyalty to abstinence
and sigh for the authority of the lingering star [to sanction their eating]. 300
To my knowledge Samuel Krauss was the first to use this passage for reconstructing the Jewish customs of Yom Kippur. 301 Krauss was followed
notably by Claude Aziza302 Against both, Hillel Newman has argued that
Tertullian describes the fast of a pagan group that fasts as if they were
Jews, as suggested by the adjective Iudaicum. 303 Newman's main argument
is that it is difficult to explain the term temp/is in the plural in a Jewish
context. 304 Yet Steven Fine's recent study shows that the ''templization" of
299
Cf. note 7 on p. 16, above.

Slightly changed translation of On Fasting 16:6 by S. Thelwall in Ante-Nicene
Fathers 4: 113; text in A. Gerlo (ed.), Quinti Septimi Florentis Tertulliani Opera. Pars II.
Opera Montanistica (CCSL 2; Tumhout, 1956), p. 1275.
301 SeeS. Krauss, Synagogale Altertii.mer (Berlin, Vienna, 1922), p. 272.
302 C. Aziza, Tertullien et le judafsme (Publications de Ia Faculte des Lettres et des
Sciences Humaines de Nice 16; Nice, 1977).
33 See H. Newman, "Jerome and the Jews" [in Hebrew with English summary] (Ph.D.
dissertation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1997), here p. 167. Newman compares
the ludaicum of this passage with the Niniviticum in the immediately preceding paragraph, which clearly refers to pagans (sacrificial altar fire, idols). Yet it is by no means
clear that the two paragraphs are about the same group and ritual. In fact, in the first
paragraph, the people wear sackcloth and ashes while in the second paragraph they are
dressed ornately, which in Tertullian's eyes disturbs the mourning ambience. This significant point has been turned upside down by S. Thelwall's translation.
304. The expression l:ll10 rnpo is very rarely used for synagogues and teaching halls, and
then only quite late (only in bMeg 29a). On the term, see Krauss, Synagogale Altertiimer,
pp. 17-18 and 28, note 6; and Stern, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism,
p. 43. Two early non-Jewish authors use temples" to refer to "synagogues": Tacitus,
Historia 5:5:4 (igitur nulla simulacra urbibus suis, nedum temp/is s[istjunt), see C.H.
Moore in LCL Tacitus 2; Stern, number 281, vol. 2, pp. 17-63; Agatharchides ofCnidus
300
the synagogue began to occur already in the Tannaitic period 305 That
Tertullian refers to pagans who followed Jewish practices (including fasting) elsewhere, and that the custom of fasting until the end of the day is
attested in pagan texts, too, makes a pagan provenance as possible as a
Jewish one, but not more likely. 306 In either case, I still consider it the
earliest detailed non-Jewish description of Yom Kippur outside the temple,
notwithstanding that the depiction might concern a Yom Kippur observed
by pagans - for even in this case, the comparison with the Jewish fast reveals how Tertullian imagined a Jewish Yom Kippur and what he knew
about it.
Tertullian chooses to characterize this "Jewish fast" by depicting the
people as engaged in prayer and abstinence, dressing in solemn clothing
and congregated in open places until the setting of the sun and the appearance of stars. All these non-biblical details and also the notable length of
the prayers can be verified by other evidence. 307 The ornate dressing is particularly significant, since it matches the rabbinic descriptions of joy and
dancing only on Yom Kippur and not on any other Jewish fast. 308 Considering that the Old Testan3ent (Isaiah 58 and Jonah) and the New
(Matthew 6) describe the opposite custom, Tertullian probably observed
with his own eyes not only the pagan fast but also the Jewish Yom Kippur.
While Tertullian, when engaged in directly anti-Jewish polentics, contrasts the fast with the Eucharist and considers participation in the fast
harmful,309 in On Fasting he only disregards the joyful aspect without a
demonization of the Jewish fast (as e.g. Chrysostom will do), and he even
prefers it to psychic -i.e. Catholic Christian- fasts.
Three of the details observed by Tertnllian appear also in other nonJewish sources: prayer, assembling outdoors and the joyful aspect. Regarding the Jewish preoccupation with prayer on Yom Kippur, I found
only one other Christian author, Ephrem, in his Homily on Fasting:
72
apud Josephus, Contra Apionem 1:209: O:;U,.' i;v -cou; ispot<; E:teteta:KOu:~ tO.~ xsipcu; iTxsa!kn
JJ.Ex!>t 'til<; to:Upm;, see Stern, number 30a, vol. 1, pp. 106--108.
305
S. Fine, This Holy Place. On the Sanctity of the Synagogue during the GrecoRoman Period (Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity Series 11; Notre Dame [Ind.],
1997), pp. 41-55 (quoting e.g. mMeg 3:3 and tMeg 3:21-23), and cf. pp. 55-59 on the
limitations.
306
Ad nationes 1:13:4 (CCSL 1:32). M. Simon, "Le Judaisme berbere dans !'Afrique
ancienne," in: idem, Recherches d'histoire Judio-Chritienne (Etudes Juives 6; Paris,
1962; pp. 30-87), p. 61, takes this as proof for his thesis of Jewish influence on local
Semitic peoples around Carthage.
307
Open places are mentioned for the prayer assemblies on public fasts by mTa 'an 2:1,
cf. Krauss, Synagogale Altertiimer, p. 269. Chrysostom states that people danced in
marketplaces (Against the Jews I :2; 1:4). Does the beach indicate the qib/a to Jerusalem?
308
The elaborate clothing matches the joyful aspect of Yom Kippur mentioned in
mTa'an 4:8.
309
Cf. the passages in Against Marcion 3:1:1 and Against the Jews 14:9-10, discussed
on pp. 156-158, below.
73
Therefore, on the day of its fast, the blind people rushed in arrogance and in error
the fast in its mouth, [but] the idol in its heart,
the prayer on its lips, [but] sorcery in its mind,
its stomach empty of bread, but full of lie[s],
its hands washed every day, but their unseen blood calling out against them. 310
The last line could either be an exegetical device to underscore the polluting effect of the murder of Christ, or it could reflect Jewish purification
rites -presumably before Yom Kippur as suggested by Didymus the Blind
(d. 398) in his Commentary on Zechariah:
"The word of the almighty God came to me," says the prophet, "and ordered [me]
to fast on the fourth and the fifth and the seventh and the tenth" 311 - obviously [the
tenth day] of the month, since there is no tenth [day] of the week, as we demonstrated before. And the almighty God ordered these [fasts] as an image for the
seventh month according to the [computation of the] Hebrews, on which the socalled Day of Atonement and humiliation (il;tAaOJJ.OU Kai 'taxewcixn::ro<; i)}!Epa) is
perfonned, which Jews observe publicly (3TJ}!O'telilll;), calling it fast, purifying previously (xpoayvtl;ollEvrov) on the fourth and the fifth and the seventh of the [days]
coming before the public fast ('tcilv xi 'ti)V 3Tji.I.O'tlft VTJO'ttiav PXO}lvrov.) 312
Didymus emphasizes the public character of the fast. This terminology is

reminiscent of the Hebrew expression ",l:J':!l n'Jl7n" ("public fast"), though
it is a publicly observed fast rather than a fast of the public. What does
Didymus mean by "purification" and what is the source of his description?
Is he referring to the ten "days of awe" before Yom Kippur? The context
gives no hint. Didymus is one of the few Christian authors with a neutral
attitude toward Yom Kippur, perhaps because he wishes to use it to interpret the enigmatic prophetic verse.
The joyful aspect appears also in Theodore! of Cyrus (ca. 393-466):
He [God] ordered fasting on the tenth of the month. Therefore, he called this day
the Day of Atonement. He said "Humble your souls from the evening of the ninth
310 Ephrem, Hymn on Fasting 1:12; my translation of the Syriac in E. Beck, Des
Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen de leiunio (CSCO 246; Scriptores Syri 106;
Louvain, 1964), p. 4. It is noteworthy that the Hymn on Fasting2 begins with Isa 58:1-5;
Hymn on Fasting 10 speaks about Moses' fast as atonement for the sin of the golden calf
and mocks the Jews who complained about eating the manna.
311
Zech 8:19.
312
My translation of Commentarii in Zachariam 3:32; for the Greek text and French
translation see L. Doutreleau, Didyme I 'Aveugle. Sur Zacharie. Introduction, texte
critique, traduction et notes (3 vols; SC 83-85; Paris, 1962), vol. 84, pp. 628-630.
74
of the month"m and "every soul, which will not be humbled on that day, that soul
will be destroyed from your people."314 Yet the Jews, who undisguisedly fight
against the law, do not look sad on this day, but laugh and play and dance and
practice unchaste words and deeds (rsAWO"l Kai Mi~oucn Kai :x:opfo:ilouot Kai (ucoMiatOt~ Pt\11ao:t Kai npliyJ.laattcixPT'IV'tat).315
Dancing matches Mishnah Ta 'anit 4:8 316 and is mentioned also in John
Chrysostom. In his notorious Sermons Against the Jews, which are directed
against Christians who participate in the Jewish Yom Kippur celebrations,
he gives a vivid description of some contemporaneous Jewish practices:
e.g. he complains that "they dance with bare feet on the market place."317
While the state of barefootedness is usually explained as pagan nudipedalia, 3 18 it matches well the rabbinical prescriptions~ since abstaining from
wearing sandals appears as one of the six basic abstinences of Yom Kippur
in Mishnah Yoma 8:] 319 It also appears in the sermons of Leo the Great
(440-461) on the Fast of September in Rome.
When, therefore, dearly beloved, we encourage you toward certain matters set out
even in the Old Testament, we are not subjecting you to the yoke of Jewish obser~
vance, nor are we suggesting to you the custom of a worldly (carnalis) people.
Christian self~denial surpasses their fasts, and, if there is anything in common
between us and them in chronological circumstances (temporibus), the customs
(moribus) are different. Let them have their barefoot processions (nudipedalia),
and let their pointless fasts (ieiunia) show in the sadness of their faces (in tristitia
uultuum). We, however, show no change in the respectability of our clothes. We
do not refrain from any right and necessary work. Instead, we control our freedom
313
Lev 23:27.32.
Lev 23:29.
31 5 My translation of Quaestiones in Octateuchum, in Leviticum 32 in: N. Fernandez
Marcos and A. Saenz~Badillos ( eds. ), Theodoreti Cyrensis Quaestiones in Octateuchum
(Textos y Estudios "Cardenal Cisneros" de la Biblia polliglota matritense 17; ~adrid,
1979), p. 183:12-19. For further discussion, see below, pp. 280-281. As the dtffe~ent
choice of vocabulary reveals, the statement is not literally dependent on the formulations
of John Chrysostom. There may theoretically be an indirect dependence, but it is much
more likely that John and Theodoret, who lived in such close proximity - geographically
as chronologically -witnessed the same festivities on different occasions.
31 6 Quoted above, p. 36.
317 :ytlj.lVOl<; tot~ xoai.v txi tf'l<; ityopii<; OpxoUJ.U;vot (Against the Jews 1:4; PG 48:8460).
See in the same section: YtlJ.lVO'i<; flitSt~s tot<; xooiv 1ti tfl<; i.r.yopii<;. xai xotvffivst tf'l<; i.r.OXTtJ.lO~
crUVTJ<; aittot~ xai. toii -ySJ...roto<; (Against the Jews 1:4; PG 48:849C).
318 See the commentary to this passage by R. Br!ndle in idem and V. Jegher-Bucher
(eds., transl.), Acht Reden gegen Juden (Bibliothek der griechischen Literatur 41;
Stuttgart, 1995).
319 Compare also Juvenal's parody of the barefoot Agrippa mentioned above, p. 69-70.
314

in eating by simple frugality, limiting the quantity of our food, but not
dernning what God has created. 320
75
con~
Here, the commentators explain the nudipedalia against the background of

Manichean practices. 321 Regarding the fact that Chrysostom and Leo both
claim to describe Jewish Yom Kippur practices, and considering that this
matches the rabbinic prescriptions, we have to consider the statements of
these Church Fathers as eyewitness accounts. 322 In the chapter on liturgy
this deduction will be important in assessing the historical connection of
Leo and the Christian Fast of the Seventh Month to the Jewish fast. 323 Besides walking barefoot, Leo mentions sadness, less respectable clothes,
total fast and idleness as characteristics of Yom Kippur. Sadness and
shabby clothing may be polemical topoi rooted in Matthew 6, Isaiah 58
320 My translation of Sermon 89:1 of the Latin in A. Chavasse (ed.), Sancti Leonis
Magni Romani Pontificis Tractatus Septem et Nonaginta (Hom 39-95) (CCSL 138A;
Turnhout, 1973), p. 551. Cf. the translation of A.J. Conway and J.P. Freeland, St. Leo the
Great: Sermons (The Fathers of the Church 93; Washington, D.C., 1996). The translation
of Freeland and Conway ("if there is anything in common between us and them in cir~
cumstances, there are great differences in our character") misses some aspects of the
comparison. Dolle's French translation goes in the same direction as mine. Mores is the
headline for the five customs that follow.
321 Conway and Freeland, St. Leo the Great: Sermons, p. 368.
322 Blaise's dictionary gives two meanings for nudipedalia, one pagan and one Jewish.
Jerome uses the term nudi'pedalia to describe an explicitly Jewish practice accusing Paul
"nudipeda/ia exercueris de caerimoniis Judaeorum."- Letter 112:10; I. Hilberg (ed.),
Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi Epistulae (CSEL 54; 55; 56:1-2; Vienna, 2 1996), here vol. 55,
p. 379:15-16. Cf. the same incident in Against Jovinianus 1:15 (PL 23:234C); Commentary on Galatians 1; 2:8-9 (PL 26:339A, 3750). This may possibly reflect Jerome's
acquaintance with the contemporary Jewish practice as well, but does not necessarily
refer to Yom Kippur.
The textual basis for the Roman practice of barefoot processions rests on quite a
fragile foundation: three passages by Tertullian and Petronius, much earlier than Leo's
time, Leo being closer to Jerome: see Marbach, '<Nudipedalia." Petroni us refers to
women who walk barefoot to a hill (the Capitol?) to pray for rain (Satyricon 44).
Petronius, however, uses the past tense (antea ibant), which may mean "that the ceremony bad been abandoned in the speaker's own time," as suggested by M.H. Morgan,
"Greek and Roman Rain~Gods and Rain~Cbarms," Transactions and Proceedings of the
American Philological Association 32 (1901) 83-109, here p. 100; or "daB er [der
Brauch] nicht mehr so allgemein und so gewissenhaft wie frfiher durchgefiihrt wurde": E.
Samter, "AitrOmischer Regenzauber," Archiv fUr Religionswissenschaft 21 (1922) 317339, here p. 321. Tertullian about 150 years later describes a similar rite, the nudipeda/ia
of the people, who in times of drought pray to Jupiter for rain on the Capitolian hill (Apologia 40). In a second passage be speaks of several communities (quasdam uero colonias) who follow this practice (On Fasting 16). In general, walking barefoot is a sign of
mourning (Terence, Phormia 106-107; Suetonius, Divus Augustus 100:4; bPesah 4a).
323
See below, pp. 312-317.
76
77
and Jonah, but it may also describe Roman Jewish practice, since the rab-
preponderance of non-exegetical texts over the ritual descriptions and the

relative disinterest of Christian exegesis in contemporary Jewish ritual are
"normal." 327
binic data are not univocal on this issue.
How much did aocient Christian scholars know about the details of the
prayer service? Jerome, Chrysostom and Hesychius mention the sound of
Second, I was surprised by the fact that Origen does not refer explicitly
Shofarot in close juxtaposition with Yom Kippur descriptions associating

eschatological concepts to it 324 Yet it is difficult to decide whether these
Shofar blasts refer to Rosh Hashanah or to Yom Kippur, and whether the
Christiao authors heard the Shofarot or only read about them in the festival
calendar of Leviticus 23. Were Christian authors familiar with the Jewish
readings? Some readings of the Roman Fast of the Seventh Month are conspicuously close to the readings of Yom Kippur, Hosea 14, Micah 7,
Exodus 32 aod Leviticus 23 325 Furthermore, Isaiah 58, one of the Haftarot
to the specific Yom Kippur practices of his Jewish contemporaries, though
for Yom Kippur, appears very often in Christian texts on Yom Kippur or in
close juxtaposition to passages on the fast. 326 Yet it is impossible to

discern if this juxtaposition is the result of a Christiao polemical pun on
the citation of Isaiah 58 in the Jewish prayer in some communities, or if
some Jewish communities introduced Isaiah 58 as a reading in order to
counter Christian attacks. Most likely is a third possibility, that Isaiah 58

entered the Jewish liturgy al!d the Christian polemics independently merely
because its content was well suited to both.
Two results of the analysis surprised me. First, with the exception of
Theodore! of Cyrus' portrayal of Yom Kippur, the most detailed

descriptions of the Jewish Yom Kippur - Tertullian, Ephrem, Didymus,
Chrysostom and Leo - do not appear in exegeses of Leviticus 16. The
he clearly lived in a town with a dense Jewish population, fought Christians participating in Yom Kippur fasts expressis verbis, and was acquainted with some exegetical traditions. Given his provenance and the
specific situation of the battle against Christian Judaizers, it is highly

unlikely that Origen did not know at least the main visible features of the
popular Yom Kippur rituals. We cao therefore use the case of Origen to
deduce that an argumentum e silentio cannot be applied to other authors
with regard to Yom Kippur: if Christiao authors do not explicitly specifY
Jewish ritual practices, this does not mean that they were not aware of at
least their basic elements.
In sum, almost all Christian authors were acquainted with the fact the
Jews fasted on Yom Kippur; some were also familiar with the joyful aspects of the rites such as dancing or beautiful clothes, and outdoors gatherings; few mention prayer or purification rites. Some may have known of
the use of Shofarot in the prayer service or the reading of Isaiah 58 or

Jonah, but it is impossible to prove. I did not find aoy Christian witness for
the Jewish custom of wearing specifically white clothes or performing the
lcapparot sacrifice, which is quite suitable as an object of polemics. It is
description is probably the different orientation of the exegetical genres,
difficult to point to any conclusions concerning time and place. Neither is

it possible to ascribe certain Jewish customs to specific communities.
Ephrem, Chrysostom and Theodoret do not seem to be informed more pre-
with concepts having a certain primacy over ritual. For example, Protestant
cisely, nor do they relate radically different facts than Leo or Tertullian.
exegesis explains the Protestaot understanding of the biblical text and

probably justifies Protestant liturgy and ritual. Io the times of ProtestaotCatholic polemics, Protestaots devalued Catholic liturgy by attacking
Texts from Alexandria, Jerusalem and Caesarea are less informative than
reason for this discrepancy between extensive exegesis and detailed ritual
Catholic concepts and the interpretation of their canonical prooftexts. The
Protestaots did not need to describe, analyze and counter the details of
Catholic ritual itself, since they had already extracted "its roots." On the
other hand, descriptions of Catholic ritual appear as circumstaotial
evidence
in
letters,
diaries,
newspapers,
etc.
Accordingly,
the
324 Jerome, Letter 52:10 (CSEL 54:432-433); Chrysostom, Against the Jews 1:5.8;
Hesychius, Commentary on Leviticus 23 (PG 93:109IBC).
325 See the section on the Roman Christian fast in September, below, pp. 317-321.
326 E.g. Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 40:4; Origen, Homily on Leviticus 10:2:4 (SC
287:136); Ephrem, Hymn on Fasting 2:1; Basil, Homily on Fasting 1-2; Leo, Sermon
92:2.
Leo from Rome and Tertullian from North Africa, aod less than I expected
them to be. Certainly, some of the great exegetes of Leviticus such as Cyril
and Hesychius lived in towns with considerable Jewish minorities, just as
Origen did. 328 Clearly based on eyewitness accounts are the descriptions of
Ephrem, Chrysostom, Theodore! and Leo, and most probably also
Tertullian; they give detailed extra-biblical information that tallies with
rabbinic regulations. .
327
As a test case, it would be interesting to compare Yom Kippur to, for example,
Passover_ How much did Christians know about the Jewish post-temple Passover practices, and in what contexts and genres do these descriptions appear? I am not aware of
such a study, but the limited frame of the present one precludes my undertaking it at this
point.
328 These authors are discussed below, pp. 262-265.
Imaginaires of Yom Kippur
79
anity, i.e. the comparative aspects determine the focus and scope. Despite
these limitations, I hope to have added some new observations and inter-
pretations, especially regarding the apocalyptic material and 4Maccabees.

Chapter 3
lmaginaires of Yom Kippur
1. The Apocalyptic lmaginaire of Yom Kippur
The different Jewish groups attached various rationales to the ritual of

Yom Kippur and variously used its imagery to explain theological ideas.
This section investigates these imaginaires according to the major sources.
I shall begin (section I) with the apocalyptic texts of different provenance
(including Qumran) that use similar imagery based on Yom Kippur to
describe the primordial and the eschatological fight against evil, and the
The mythopoetic potential of Yom Kippur finds one of its deepest expressions in two major elements in the ancient Jewish apocalypses:
1. Some descriptions of heavenly ascents employ the high-priestly entry
into the presence of God in the holy of holies (Testament of Levi) or
allude to it (Isaiah 6; Zechariah 3; /Enoch 14, Apocalypse of Abraham).2
2. In some cosmological myths of Urzeit and Endzeit about the genesis
vision of God. This discussion is crucial for understanding the emergence
and termination of sin, the 'Az'azel goat serves as imagery for the
of early high-priestly Christology and of Valentinian and Clement of
leaders of the evil powers (Apocalypse of Abraham: /Enoch !0).

Sometimes the 'Az'azel goat ritual is used to describe the eschatological end of sin (1 Enoch I 0). Often the protagonist of the good
forces is portrayed as a (high) priest (1 Enoch, Zechariah 3, II QMelchizedek, Apocalypse of Abraham) 3
I will start with a brief analysis of the first and continue with the second. A
Alexandria's mysticism.
I shall then (section 2) deal with Greek diaspora texts. The Septuagint
demonstrates the enculturaiion of Jewish conceptions in a pagan world.
Philo shows how allegorization can serve the needs of the temple-less
diaspora. The portion on 4Maccabees 11 uses Yom Kippur imagery in
post-temple Jewish martyrology, a phenomenon parallel to Christian
Jewish thought. The saroe phenomenon may be the background to a pas-
fmal section deals with the etiological aspects of another tradition contained in Jubilees. Jubilees is not apocalyptic, but it has many traditions in
sage in Josephus.
common with 1Enoch, and it deals with Yom Kippur in a mythological
The brief passage on Christian Jewish texts (section 3) was inserted

mainly to remind the reader that many of the texts to be investigated in
parts 2 and 3 in fact belong here, in the analysis of the Jewish material.
The next two sections deal with aspects of two corpora of post-temple
Judaism oflate antiquity: the rabbinic texts (section 4) and Hekhalot literature (section 5), with an emphasis on the first corpus. The Hekhalot texts
resume the use of the imagery of the high priest's entrance to the holy of
holies for the description of the mystical ascent, resembling Philo and the
apocalyptic sources. All of these corpora are essential for understanding
the development of this imagery in early Christian mysticism, especially
the Valentinian sources. I will return to aspects of piyyutim and the rabbinic texts in the section on Christian-Jewish polemics.
I tried to investigate each group in its own right. Yet this chapter has to
be understood within the limitation of the fraroe of this work as a tool for
addressing the primary issue- the impact of Yom Kippur on early Christi1
time and from a priestly perspective.
1.1 High-Priestly Visions of God I: Apocalyptic Texts

The high-priestly entrance to the holy of holies served as imagery for
apocalyptic texts to describe heavenly ascents to God. Similar pictures appear also in Philo, Valentinian Gnosticism, early Christian mysticism and
Hekhalot texts. The heavenly ascents adopt the langoage of Leviticus 16.
Scholars have frequently investigated these texts and their interconnec-
tions. This section treats only the apocalyptic texts; the other texts will be
dealt with separately. I focus on the connection of the sources to Yom
Kippur and mainly ask two questions: With regard to the history of tradition, which texts reinforce what kinds of elements of the Yom Kippur
2
The two main elements may be connected, as for example in the Apocalypse of
Abraham. In the Book of the Watchers (/Enoch 1-36) and in the Testament of Levi the
two moments appear in different chapters of the book.
3
A previo~s version of these thoughts has been published as StOkl, "Yom Kippur in
the Apocalyptic lmaginaire and the Roots of Jesus' High Priesthood."
80
turban on his bead." So they put a clean turban on his head, and clothed him; and
the angel of the LORD was standing by.
6 Then the angel of the LORD assured Joshua, saying 1 "Thus says the LORD of
hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you shall rule
my house, and have charge of my courts, and I will give you access to those who
are standing here. sNow listen, Joshua, high priest, you and your colleagues who
sit before you! For they are people of evidence [an omen of things to come]: I am
going to bring my servant "Branch." 9 For on the stone that I have set before
Joshua, on a single stone with seven facets, I will engrave its inscription, says the
LORD of hosts, and I will remove the guilt of that land in a single day ( 1117 nN nWI:ll
1nN lll'j N';J;l f1N;J/'VTJlO.!J1~G<O xiiaa.v -ci)v 0./)tKia.v t~c; y~c; iKeiVT)c; i:v ~11pq p.t~). 10 On
that day, says the LORD of hosts, you shall invite each other to come under your
vine and fig tree." 7
imagery? And, what mystic ritual lies behind this conception of the
visionary as high priest entering the holy of holies?
The prophetic visions of Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel I and I 0 use terms and
motifs alluding to the temple and the holy of holies without alluding to
motifs specifically connected to Yom Kippur. 4 Although Ezekiel envisages
God's throne placed on the cherubs (i.e. above the kapporet on the ark in
the holy of holies) surrounded by figures clothed in (priestly) white linen,
he does not directly refer to the kapporet. 5
Zechariah 3 describes a vision of the high priest Joshua standing before
the heavenly tribunal 6
3:1 Then he showed me the high priest Joshua (YI!'ll;pfirloo~) standing before the
angel of the LORD, and Satan (lt!W;'l/0 OtU!JoAos) standing at his right hand to accuse
him. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, "May the LORD rebuke you, 0 Satan! May the
LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you (1:l 1li'l'/txtnr.ai)oat tv ooi)! Is not this
a brand plucked from the fire?"
3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes (c1m: D'11J/lllitna PmapO:) as he
stood before the angeL 4 And [the angel] answered and said to those who were
standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." And to him he said, "See, I have
taken your guilt (1lll11''7Yll'ni:ll7;'1/it(~11]plJKa tO.c; O.vop.iac; aou) away from you. Clothe
you with festal apparel (ni~l;onZJ/xoOflpll)!" s And I said, "Let them put a clean
4 Isa 6 mentions God dressed in robes sitting on a throne in the palace (7::1';'1) (6:1),
surrounded by winged serallDl (6:2), who glorify him with the threefold sane/Us (6:3).
Isaiah does not state clearly whether the building stands in heaven or on earth and,
therefore, whether Isaiah ascends to heaven or enters the earthly l;o:~:-~. The latter is more
probable. The throne and the palace evoke a king's council (cf. 1Kgs 22:19; Job 1:6; 2:1;
Zech 1:8; 3:1; 6:1-3), but the liturgy with the culticmilitary appellation nlNj~ :11;'1\ the
altar, the smoke, the exceptional purification and the atonement of Isaiah's sins belong to
a cultic temple context: see H. Wildberger, Jesaja. I. Teilband Jesaja I-I2 (Biblischer
Kommentar X/1; Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1972), pp. 243-253; J. Blenkinsopp, isaiah 1-39
(Anchor Bible 19; New York, 2000), pp. 222-226. The smoke and the altar in the house I
temple (n:t) are reminiscent of an incense sacrifice. Isaiah is purified and his sins (lnY,
nNt!n) are atoned (1~1:1n) (6:5-7). No mention is made of a separation of the sanctuary
into several parts, a veil, a holy of holies, or a blood ritual.
5 Ezek 1 describes Ezekiel seeing 71Jum in the open heavens, out of which emerges a
chariot with wheels and four fiery winged animals, and above them a fiery hwnan figure
seated on a throne. Ezek 9-10 describes the exit of God's glory from the throne above the
cherubs in the temple (10:1). This visiOn was very influential, but it does not include
cultic elements relevant to the Yom Kippur ritual. See the commentaries on this verse:
W. Zimmerli, Ezechiel. I. Teilband: Ezechiell-24 (Biblischer Kommentar XIII/I; Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1969); M. Greenberg, Ezekie/1-20. A New Translation with Introduction
and Commentary (Anchor Bible 22; Garden City, N.Y., 1983). The same is true for the
vision of final judgment in Dan 7:9-10. See J.J. Collins, Daniel (Hermeneia; Minneapolis, 1993), pp. 299-303.
6 The scene has also some elements in common with Isa 6: see R. Hanhart, Sacharja
(Biblischer Kommentar. Altes Testament 14:7; Neukirchen-Vluyn, l990ff), pp. 205-206.
81
Robert Hanhart has discerned some elements connecting the scene of

Zechariah to Yom Kippur. 8 The protagonist is a high priest. He stands at a
special place where only he, God, a defending angel and the accusing
Satan are present. The right of access to this place is dependent on observance of certain regulations and a moral code. This evokes the holy of
holies. The central act is a symbolic change of vestments. The soiled high
priest's vestments symbolize his sins. Exchanging these soiled clothes for
clean ones signifies atonement.9 The "single day" of purification of the
land evokes Yom Kippur and gives it an eschatological ring. The cultic
scene alluded to conld be the picture of a high priest who changes his linen
vestments, which have become stained from sprinkling the blood on Yom
Kippur. 10
Regarding the number of corresponding elements, a connection to Yom
Kippur is probable. Later readers of Zechariah (at least those behind the
Apocalypse of Abraham around 100 CE) undoubtedly viewed Zechariah 3
as being connected to Yom Kippur, as will be shown in the ensuing subsection on 'Az'azel in apocalypticism. If Leviticus 16 is one of the texts in
the background of Zechariah 3, the prophet is the earliest evidence for a
Zech 3; my translation based on the NRSV.

Hanhart, Sacharja, pp. 166-240, especially pp. 184-189. See also H. Blocher,
"Zacharie 3. Josue et le Grand Jour des Expiations," Etudes Theologiques et Religieuses
54 (1979) 264-270. Most commentators emphasize the differences in the two situations
and discard any relationship. Hanhart underscores the amount of reinterpretation of the
priestly ritual.
9
The rare Greek term for the vestment, xoOflpTJc;, will be discussed below, in the
section on Barnabas and the proto.typology, p. 160.
10
Hanhart, in contrast, understands the change of vestments in Lev 16 as signifying
two aspects of the ritual, purification of the sanctuary (Lev 16:20) and atonement for the
sins of priest and people (Lev 16:24), without drawing on the rabbinic tradition of the
ritual and the changes of vestments: see Hanhart, Sacharja, p. 186.
8
conception of Yom Kippur as a day of judgment, of historical and eschatological atonement.

Apocalyptic sources from the Second Temple period develop these cuitic elements in the prophetic texts into an ascent vision of approaching
God in the holy of holies of the heavenly temple. !Enoch 14:8-25, from
around 300 BCE, is the earliest extant description of an ascent to God
seated on his throne in the heavenly holy of holies. 11 Enoch is described as
subsequently entering three areas of increasing sanctity, matching the
structure of Jerusalem's temple with its o71N, 7m and 1'~1l 2 God sits in
white garments on a throne surrounded by angels praising him and by a
fiery sea with fiery rivers flowing out from below his throne. 13 Upon encountering this scene, Enoch is frightened; he prostrates himself, and God
asks him to draw near to the area that even the angels cannot enter -just as
regular priests carmot enter the holy of holies, only the high priest may do
so. 14 Here, Enoch is supposed to deliver his intercession on behalf of the
Watchers. 15 Many details attest to a major priestly component in the apocalyptic thought of 1Enoch 14l6 The white garment is best understood as
referring to the linen vestments worn daily by the priests 17 - and worn, too,
by the high priest, on Yom Kippur. Enoch's intercessory prayer on behalf

of the Watchers matches the high priest's actions on Yom Kippur. 18
The Testament of Levi 19 describes a visionary ascent of Levi to the holy
of holies in the sanctuary in the highest heaven. 20 The language vividly
paints the liturgical scene 21
82
11
Chapter 14 is part of the so-called Book of Watchers, which is dated to at least the
third century BCE: see the extensive commentary by G.W.E. Nickelsburg, 1 Enoch 1. A
Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 1-36; 81-108 (Hermeneia; Minneapolis,
2001), pp. 7, 229-275; M.E. Stone, "The Book of Enoch and Judaism in the Third
Century B.C.E.," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 40 (1978) 479-492; M. Black (ed.), The
Book of Enoch or I Enoch. A New English Edition with Commentary and Textual Notes
(Studia in veteris testamenti pseudepigrapha 7; Leiden, 1985), here pp. 149-152. The
influence of the biblical vision scenes (or, in the case of Daniel, their sources) is striking:
see M. Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses (Oxford,
1993), pp. 10, 13, 16, referring to Ezekiel for the throne with the cherubs, which did not
stand in the Second Temple, its useless wheels, and the visionary's prostration; and to
Isa6 and 1Kgs22:19-22 for the angels surrounding God and the visionary's fear.
Dan 7:9-10 is very close, but since the Book of the Watchers is earlier than Daniel, it is
not clear if the latter was influenced by the former or if both rely on a common Vorlage.
12
I Enoch 14:9.10.14.
t3 ]Enoch 14:14-23.
4
1 I Enoch 14:24 and 14:21.
15
I Enoch 15:2-16:4.
16
Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, pp. 27, 28. It
is this priestly group that conceals a criticism of the Jerusalem priestly establishment
behind the fulminations against the Watchers.
17
Cf Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, pp. 18-20.
83
In the uppermost heaven22 of all dwells the Great Glory in the holy of holies (tv
Uyi.Q,) Uyi.mv), superior to all holiness. s There with him 23 are the angels of the
Lord's face, who serve (M::t-roupyoiivn:<;) and atone (1;tA.a.oK6J.I.svot) before the Lord
for all the sins of ignorance of the righteous (6) and offer (1tpompfpoucn) to the Lord
a pleasing fragrance, a rational and bloodless oblation. 24
3:4
After crossing a series of heavens, Levi enters the _highest heaven, which is
explicitly called holy of holies. God's Glory is surrounded by archangels
whose main liturgical function is to atone on behalf of the righteous. In
other words, the main cultic function of the heavenly holy of holies is
atonement. Some of the central cultic elements mentioned in 1Enoch are
missing, such as the fear and the prostration. Himmelfarb ascribes this absence to a Christian redactor. 25 Yet the preservation of such texts as
!Enoch and the Testament of Levi by Christian scribes, and their translation into various languages, demonstrates the interest of Christian readers
18
Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, p. 25. Intercession may be, among other things, prophetic, but a priestly intercession matches best
the other priestly elements and the sacral geography of the chapter.
19 Even if one considers the Testament of the Patriarchs a Christian work that draws
on Jewish sources, we can, with care, use the Testament of Levi for reconstructing Jewish
thought of the Second Temple period, since we have fragments of one of its sources or
traditions, the Aramaic Levi from Qumran, a fragment from the Cairo Genizah as well as
a fragment of a Greek translation in a manuscript from Mount Athos.
20
In fact, there are two ascents (Testament of Levi 2:5-5:7; 8:1-18), but the first
contains all the motifs relevant to our issue. The second vision, in chapter 8, includes a
detailed investiture of sorts in seven (!) priestly garments, conferring qualities and
powers on Levi, such as priesthood, prophecy, judgment, righteousness, understanding,
truth and faith. Obviously, this investiture deviates widely from the biblical prescriptions
for priestly vestments. On the ascents in Testament of Levi, see Himmelfarb, Ascent to
Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, pp. 30-37.
21
E.g. the use of siofPXOJ.I.t for crossing into another heaven (2:6-7); crilvsyyu<;;
1St'tO'IJPY0<; (2: 10).
22
It is not completely clear if the number of heavens is three or seven. Apparently,
two conceptions have been mixed.
23
M. de Jonge and H.W. Hollander, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (Studia
in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha 8; Leiden, 1985), consider the sentences that
follow to be descriptions of heavens four to six, and consequently translate here "in the
(heaven) next to if' (p. 136).
24
Testament of Levi 3 :4--6; my translation.
25
See Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, p. 33.
84
in this cosmological and theosophical material." And, as we shall see in

the section on the Valentinians and Clement of Alexandria, early Christian
mysticism used the same imagery in its descriptions of a vision of God.27
Allusions to Yom Kippur are fewer than in Philo or in Valentinian
Christianity. The sacred geography of Yom Kippur (i.e. the entry to the
holy of holies) attracts most attention in the visionary descriptions. The
dimension of time (the entry is annual) is eliminated by emphasizing the
eternity of the angelic cult and the permanence of the ascending person's
participation in it. Explicit allusions to the specific ritual of Yom Kippur
(incense, sprinkling, atOnement, intercession) are quite rare. The first to
make an explicit connection between a vision of God and Yom Kippur's
high-priestly entrance is Philo. 28 Hebrews and Valentinians depict the vision of God in terms closer to the apocalyptic texts; probably all are
drawing on the same esoteric tradition of priestly origin.
To imagine the high-priestly entry is to imagine an enconnter with the
divine, and an encounter with the divine may be well mirrored in the highpriestly entry to the holy of holies. Scholars are divided about the basis of
these depictions. Are they solely the fruit of literary imagination, or do
they reflect induced visions?t"
In this context, the evidence provided by the Songs of the Sabbath
Sacrifice becomes important.30 Despite the fact that the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice were fonnd at Qumran, they were probably in use in a
community outside Qumran, since the texts do not contain any "sectually
explicit" features." The Sitz im Leben of these fragments on the angelic

cult of the heavenly temple is communal prayers. 32 They describe a
heavenly liturgy that takes place in the seven heavens which contains
several holies of holies {-P~1), some of them with a tlrrone and a veil,
where angels (c''>N) offer pure and perfect heavenly sacrifices. These
scenes are built on the same imagery as the apocalyptic ascent visions.
Esther Chazon has worked out the various levels of correspondence between the heavenly and the earthly liturgy, up to human participation in the
heavenly prayer, i.e. ritualized mysticism in communal prayer. 33 This
ritualization will be important when we come to the Valentinian ritual of
the bridal chamber. As we shall see in part 2, the Yom Kippur temple ritual
does not become a fixed part of the depiction but continues to serve as a
"living" source of inspiration in the Christian Jewish texts. The Christian
Jewish texts not only use motifs derived from the apocalyptic tradition of
the vision but also add elements from their imaginaire of Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur, then, remained a powerful influence.
26
2Enoch describes Enoch's metamorphosis into an angel on the ascent to the highest
heaven in terms of a priestly investiture. The archangel Michael brings Enoch to the tenth
heaven, where Enoch stands before the indescribable face of the Lord, who is seated on
his throne surrounded by singing cherubs and seraphs. Enoch prostrates himself and is
bidden by God to stand up. God orders Michael to anoint Enoch and change his clothes,
and Enoch is ordained by Michael, a member of the order of angelic priests (ch. 22). See
Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, pp. 37-44, especially 40-41. The change of clothes has no atoning connotation. The structure of ten
heavens clearly presumes a hierarchical sacred geography. The ordination takes place in
the holiest space. See Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, p. 42. Cherubs and throne are reminiscent of the holy of holies of the First
Temple. The prostration may point to the priestly cult.
27 See below, pp. 228-237.
28 See below, pp. 110-112.
29 The first view is expressed by Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and
Christian Apocalypses; the second by, among others, M. Stone, "Apocalyptic- Vision or
Hallucination?" Milia wa-Mil/a 14 (1974) 47-56. Many intermediate positions are discussed in Himmelfarb's fifth chapter.
3<1 4Q400-407 and IIQ17 edited in C. Newsom (ed.), Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice.
A Critical Edition (Harvard Semitic Studies 27; Atlanta [Ga.], 1985).
85
1.2 The Mythologization of 'Az"azel
1.2.1 Allusions to the Myth of' Az'azel in JEnoch I 0

Yom Kippur's scapegoat rite influenced I Enoch 10- at least from the
second century BCE onward, 1Enoch 10 was understood against the
background of Yom Kippur. 34 I Enoch 6-11 is the part of the Book of the
31 The term is Carol Newsom's in "'Sectually explicit' literature from Qumran," in:
The Hebrew Bible and Its Interpreters (1990) 167-187.
32 C.R.A. Morray-Jones, "The Temple Within. The Embodiment of the Divine Image
and Its Worship in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other-Early Jewish and Christian Sources,"
Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers 31:1 (1998) 400-431.
33 E. Chazon, "Human and Angelic Prayer in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls" (paper
delivered at the Fifth Orion International Symposium, 19-23 January 2000, The Hebrew
University, Jerusalem).
34
A number of scholars have previously dealt with this question. See the notes in A.
Geiger, "Zu den Apokryphen," Jii.dische Zeitschrififii.r Wissenschaft und Leben 3 (1864)
196-204, here pp. 200-201; R.H. Charles (ed.), The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of
the Old Testament in English (2 vols; Oxford, 1913); idem, The Book of Enoch or I
Enoch, Translated from the Editor's Ethiopic Text (Jerusalem, 1973,1912); D. Dimant,
''The Fallen Angels in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Related Apocryphes and Pseudepigrapha" [in Hebrew] (Ph.D. dissertation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1974);
D. Dimant, "1 Enoch 6-11: A Methodological Perspective," Society of Biblical
Literature Seminar Papers (1978) 323-339; Hanson, "Rebellion in Heaven"; R. Rubinkiewitz, Die Eschatologie von Henoch 9-II und das Neue Testament (Osterreichische
Biblische Studien 6; Vienna, 1984). L.L. Grabbe, "The Scapegoat Tradition: A Study in
Early Jewish Interpretation," Journal for the Study of Judaism 18 (1987) 152-167, I
found very helpful; R. Helm, "Azazel in Early Jewish Tradition," Andrews University
86
Watchers (I Enoch 1-36) that tells the myth of the fallen angels who deceive humanity and introduce sin into the world. 35 These chapters (6-11)
are usually regarded as being composed of two different layers named after
the two leaders of the evil angels, 'Asa' el and Shemihaza. 36 The central
passage pertaining to our question appears in lEnoch 10, in the 'Asa'el
layer:
37
4 And further the Lord said to Raphael, "Bind ['Asa'el] by his hands and his feet,
and throw him into the darkness. And split open the desert which is in Dudael, and
throw him there. 5 And throw on him jagged and sharp stones and cover him with
darkness; and let him stay there for ever, and cover his face, that he may not see
light, 6 and that on the great day of judgment he may be hurled into the fire. 1 And
Seminary Studies 32 (1994) 217-226, however, added nothing significantly new. Most of
my thoughts on I Enoch 10, the Apocalypse of Abraham and 11 QMelchizedek can be
found in StOkl, "Yom Kippur in the Apocalyptic Imaginaire and the Roots of Jesus' High
Priesthood."
35 On !Enoch 6-ll, see nowNickelsburg, I Enoch I, pp. 165-228.
36
George Nickels burg and Paul Hanson proposed two contradictory theories for the
relationship between these layers and their backgrounds: see G.W.E. Nickelsburg,
"Apocalyptic and Myth in 1 Enoc}l 6-11," Journal of Biblical Literature 96 (1977) 383405; Nickelsburg, I Enoch I, pp.l65-228, esp. pp. 191-193 and 215-228; Hanson, "Rebellion in Heaven." Hanson argued that the Shemihaza layer follows an ancient Semitic
pattern of a "rebellion in heaven" myth that in tum influenced the 'Asa'el stratum, which
was formulated according to Lev 16. Nickelsburg claimed that Prometheus influenced the
Shemihaza layer, originally built on Gen 6:1-4. This is not the context in which to try to
resolve this thorny question. On the highly interesting methodological issues involved,
see J.J. Collins, ..Methodological Issues in the Study ofl Enoch: Reflections on the Articles of P.D. Hanson and G.W. Nickelsburg," Society of Biblical Literature Seminar
Papers (1978) 315-322, especially pp. 319-320, and the responses ofNickelsburg and
Hanson in the same volume. See also J. VanderKam, Enoch and the Growth of an
Apocalyptic Tradition (Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Monograph Series 16; Washington,
D.C., 1984), pp. 122-130; and E.J.C. Tigchelaar, Prophets of Old and the Day of the
End: Zechariah, the Book of Watchers and Apocalyptic (Oudtestamentische Studien 35;
Leiden, 1996), pp. 165-182. I do not think that the either/or approach is necessarily correct here. In other words, an influence by the Prometheus myth on the Shemihaza layer
does not necessarily rule out an influence by Lev 16 on the final stage. Nickelsburg refuted Hanson's arguments, partly because Hanson built his thesis solely on the correspondences between !Enoch and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and did not use other
sources from the Second Temple (Philo!) or the rabbinic period.
37 M. Knibb translates the Etliiopic version, which reads 'Azaz'el: see M. Knibb, The
Ethiopic Book of Enoch. A New Edition in the Light of the Aramaic Dead Sea Fragments.
Vol. I: Text and Apparatus. Vol. 2: Introduction, Translation and Commentary {in consultation with Edward Ullendorff] (2 vols; Oxford, 1978). This is "an accommodation to
the biblical tradition": see L.T. Stuckenbruck, The Book of Giants from Qumran. Texts,
Translation, and Commentary (Texte und Studien zum antiken Judentum 63; Tiibingen,
1997), p. 79. The Greek version reads J.\~atlk or J.\l;al~ftL 4QEnoclt (4Q201) iii 9 reads
?No~; 4QEnocJt(4Q204) ii 26 reads [7]Ntul1.
87
restore the earth which the angels have ruined, and announce the restoration of the
be destroyed
arth, for I shall restore the earth, so that not all the sons of men shall J
e
sdgh
through the mystery of everything which the Watchers made known an tau t
to their sons. s And the whole earth has been ruined by the teaching of the works
of [ Asa'el], and write upon him all sin."
And the Lord said to Gabriel: "Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates
and against the sons of the fornicators, and destroy the sons of the fornicators and
the sons of the Watchers from amongst men. And send them out, and send them
against one another, and let them destroy th':~selves in battl~, for they ~ill n?t
have length of days. 10 And they will all pet1t1on you, but their fathers wtll gam
nothing in respect of them, for they hope for eternal life, and that each of them
will live life for five hundred years." 39
A connection between 1Enoch I 0 and Yom Kippur has long been noted."'
The closeness of 'Asa'el to 'Az'azel is striking41 and was certainly perceived in the second centuryBCE by the authors of 4Q180, 4Q181 and
4QEnoch Giants', who tell the myth of the fallen angels and call the leader
of the fallen angels 'Azaz'el {?KTTY), i.e. the demonized form of his narne 42
At least in these texts the two demons 'Asa'el and 'Az'azel were equated.
Yet a number of further points of resemblance make an earlier influence of
the scapegoat ritual on the formulation of I Enoch probable. The punishment of the demon resembles the treatment of the goat in aspects of
geography, action, time and purpose. 43 First, the name of the place ofjudg33 On this obvious emendation of the commentary, see Black, The Book of Enoch or
I Enoch.
39 This is Knibb's translation of the Ethiopic text of !Enoch 10:4-10. See Knibb, The
Ethiopic Book of Enoch, which I slightly adjusted to the Greek. Only 4a and 8b are extant
in Aramaic.
40 See note 34 on p. 85, above.
41 While the extra K does not play a role, the variant o I 111 to T is important. Precisely
this difference between 7Kll7l1 I 7NOl1 and 'nNrY I 7NnY is one of Nickelsburg' s main arguments against an influence of Lev 16: see Nickelsburg, ..Apocalyptic and Myth in
I Enoch 6-11," pp. 401-404, especially note 83 on p. 404.
42 4Ql80 1 7-8; 4QEnoch GiantT (4Q203) 7 i 6. Jewish tradition often interpreted the
Masoretic Az'azel (?rNTY) as Azaz'el (7mn7): see Dimant .. 1 Enoch 6-11," p. 336, note
37. For the discussion of 4Ql80, 4Ql81 and 4QEnoch GiantT see also J.T. Milik, The
Books of Enoch. Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4 [with the collaboration of
Matthew Black] (Oxford, 1976), pp. 248-252 and 312-314; Dim3.nt, The Fallen Angels
in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Related Apocryphes and Pseudepigrapha," pp. 153-158,
175-176; Grabbe, ..The Scapegoat Tradition," pp. 155-156; Rubinkiewicz, Die Eschato/ogie von Henoch 9-11, pp. 97-101; and now especially Stuckenbruck, The Book of
Giants from Qumran, pp. 79-82. For the pros and cons of viewing Azazel as a demon,
see B. Janowski, ..Azazel,'' in K. van der Toorn, B. Becking and P.W. van der Horst
(eds.), Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (Leiden, 1995; col. 240-248).
43 Dimant recognized the weight of this argument, not mentioned by Hanson: ..In my
judgment such an identification (of Asa'el and 'Az'azel) is already assumed in the adap-
ment (Dudael - nl1;'! n'~) is conspicuously similar in both traditions and

can likely be traced to a common origin. 44 Both in the description of the
prison of the demon in I Enoch and in traditions about the precipice of the
scapegoat ritual an element of ruggedness appears 45 This ruggedness
could reflect an early Midrash on the meaning of,ll (cut, split up) in f,N
;'l,!l (Leviticus 16:22) andlor historical memory of the actual cliffs in the
mountains of Jerusalem.46 Second, the sins are literally put on the scapegoat and written on the demon. 47 Both are mistreated (though in different
ways), 48 brought to the desert, and hurled down. 49 Third, the reference to
"the great day" (of judgment) can be connected to Yom Kippur, since this
is one of its names in later tradition. 5 Finally, the restoration of the earth
by removing the sin (10:7-8) and the destruction of the evil forces in a war
incited by Gabriel (10:9-1 0) allude to the cathartic rationale behind Yom
Kippur.
The Shemihaza layer juxtaposes an eschatological destruction of the

evil forces and the liberation of their prisoners achieved by the archangel
Michael with the 'Asa' el tradition. 51 Following the termination of sin, Michael introduces paradise-like conditions. 52 The choice of words for the
different types of sin in 10:20 strongly resembles Leviticus 16:21. 53 The
references to flight and Sabbath rest in I Enoch 10:17 can be seen as reminiscent of the Jubilee. And the purpose behind the narrative is an eschatological day of purification of the whole earth from sin. Again, Yom Kippur
may have had some influence, especially considering that the later tradition depicts Michael as a heavenly high priest. Finally, I Enoch 13:1 ("before these things") shows that Enoch's ascent vision of the entrance to
God's throne in chapter 14 took place before the events of I Enoch 10, i.e.
the structure of I Enoch 10-14 matches the ritual of Yom Kippur with its
high-priestly entrance before the scapegoat rite.
These arguments corroborate the claim of an influence of Leviticus 16
and the Yom Kippur temple rite on 1Enoch I 0, or at least on its formulation and reception from the second century BCE onward, if not on the
original version of the narrative. The primordial and eschatological history
of sin become part of Yom Kippur's imaginaire in Jewish apocalyptic
groups, and the myth also reveals one of the rationales behind the ritual.
The annual Yom Kippur was perceived, at least by some, as a ritual anticipation of the eschatological purification of God's creation from sin. The
goat originally sent to 'Az'azel was seen as the personification of'Az'azel,
the demonic source of sin. This explains why the people mistreated the
scapegoat on its way out of the city. 54 Hanson follows the wrong track by
arguing for a sectarian origin of this tradition in a group opposing the
temple because, he claims, "the normal means provided by the Temple cult
for dealing with defilements is implicitly judged ineffectual."" The myth
88
tion of the material in chap 10, where the punishments are commanded." See Dimant,
"1 Enoch6-ll,"p.327.
44
For the interpretation of the similar names of the strange location da8ouitA I Aou!iafti...
in 1Enoch and the rabbinic 111;1 /nn;, I nnn Inn;, /nnn Jl'J, see already Geiger, "Zu
den Apokryphen," pp. 200-201. See also Milik's different explanations in Discoveries of
the Judaean Desert 2 (1961), pp. 111-112; Milik, The Books of Enoch, pp. 29-30; and
Hanson, "Rebellion in Heaven," pp. 195-233; C. Molenberg, "A Study of the Roles of
Shemihaza and 'Asa'el in I Enoch 6-11," Journal of Jewish Studies 35 (1984) 136-146,
here p. 143, note 34; Black, The Book of Enoch or I Enoch, p. 134; Grabbe, "The Scape~
goat Tradition," p. 155, note 6. Hanson's main argument seems to be a pun on 11:19 as the
Aramaic translation of n?lll in Lev 16:22-23 below the mysterious saying "open the
desert" in !Enoch 10:4. But Grabbe's long note 6 in, "The Scapegoat Tradition,"
pp. 154-155, is a quite definite response.
45 Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Lev 16 (~10p1 ~ppn 1nK ,pu); and Philo, De p/antatione 61
(&i<; 0& iilkt't KO.i ai:!lt}l Ki J3<lpa6pa i:~xhmov).
46 Compare aa.a with K~u 1nK in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Lev 16:22. Another
theory raised is a connection between nnn nJ coming from the root 11n (sharp, pointed),
Dimant, "1 Enoch 6-11," p. 327.
47
This is the literal meaning of the Greek of I Enoch 10:8 Ki i:x' airtip yp1i1f!ov o;:
6.~o.piao;: miao.<;. Cf. Lev 16:21 "putting them (the sins) upon the head of the goat" ( 1n11
1'3110;-J 1llK1 ?11 nmK) and the rabbinic description of the people's exclamations when the
scapegoat is lead out of the town "Take and go! Take and go!" (!'til ?1t:l !<!1 'no):
mYoma6:4.
48 We have no evidence for a binding of the scapegoat, nor for its being covered as the
demon is; neither is the demon treated as the scapegoat is on his leaving Jerusalem.
49 I Enoch 10:4-8 strongly emphasizes this point by mentioning four times that the
demon is hurled down.
50 Cf. e.g. bRH 2la. The Ethiopic reads as the equivalent for "great day." 4QEnochb
(4Q202) iv 11 reads KJ.1 KIJ1'. The extant Greek has no equivalent for KJ.1, but the citation
of I Enoch 10:6 in Jude 6 reads p.ey6.A:q<; ftp.po.o;:.
51
52
89
!Enoch 10:11-17.
!Enoch 10:18-11:2.
53
This has been independently noted by Rubink.iewitz, Die Eschato/ogie von Henoch
9-JJ und das Neue Testament, pp. 88-89, and even by the "opponent" of a Yom Kippur
influence, Nickelsburg himself: see Nickelsburg, "Apocalyptic and Myth in I Enoch 611,'' p. 403. Lev 16:21 reads I) Ylll9; 2) Ktm; 3) 1lll7. This is translated by the LXX with I)
oucia; 2) Eip.o.p-rio.; 3) Eivop.io.. !Enoch reads slightly differently: 1) Ei.OtKia; 2) 6.p.apia; 3)
Ei.m:~ia. However, the LXX can translate 111:11 not only as Eivop.ia but also as Ei.atasio.
(Ezek 33:9; Ps 32 [31]:5). The importance is the threefold distinction and the order of
words. Cf. Exod 34:7; Num 14:18: 1) Eivop.ia. 2) Ei.OtKio.; 3) 6.~ap't"io..
54
Barnabas 7:8 and mYoma 6:4.
55
Hanson, "Rebellion in Heaven," p. 226.
90
lmaginalres of Yom Kippur
is not arguing against the temple; it is illustrating the yearly cult as a preenactment of the final eschatological decision. 56
The impact of this myth of the punishment of the fallen angels on subsequent generations is difficult to overestimate. 57 It affected Jubilees as
well as the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Jude, I I QMelchizedek and
the Apocalypse of Abraham. 58 The following pages investigate the two latter texts, both of which intensify the references to Yom Kippur.
of Shemihaza by Michaei,60 but in II QMelchizedek the connection to Yom

Kippur becomes even more explicit:
I .2.2 I I QMelchizedek: Getting Explicit
This section focuses on the role of Yom Kippur in the famous

I I QMelchizedek scroll. 59 The scroll prophesies that at the end of the tenth
Jubilee, Meichizedek, the heavenly leader of the forces of light, will liberate the prisoners of Belial, the leader of the evil forces. Meichizedek will
then expiate the sins of the people of his lot and take revenge on the adherents of Belial. The extant fragments of the story resemble the punishment
56
For the following chapters ( 12-16), Hinunelfarb uses a similar argument stating that
they involve a critique of the Je{Usalem priestly establishment that takes seriously the
priesthood's claims for itself and the importance of priestly duties and categories. This
attitude is at once critical of the reality it sees in the temple and deeply devoted to the
ideal of the temple understood in a quite concrete way." See Himmelfarb, Ascent to
Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, p. 27.
51
The history of this myth bas been investigated by Dimant, "The Fallen Angels in
the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Related Apocryphes and Pseudepigrapha."
58
For the Apocalypse of Abraham, see among others, Rubinkiewitz, Die &chatologie
von Henoch 9-ll und das Neue Testament, pp. 52-55. On the relation to IlQMelchizedek, see Grabbe, "The Scapegoat Tradition," pp. 160-161; J.T. Milik, "Milki-sedeq et
Milki-reSa' dans les anciens ecrits juifs et chrCtiens," Journal for the Study of Judaism in
the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period 23 (1972) 95-144.
59
See the final edition in F. Garcia-Martinez, E.J.C. Tigchelaar and A.S. van der
Woude (eds.), "llQMelchizedek," in: idem (eds.), Qumran Cave 11. Vol. II: IJQ2-18,
IIQ20-31 (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 23; Oxford, 1998; pp. 221-241), with bibliography on p. 221. More recent bibliography can be found in F. Garcia-Martinez, "Las
tradiciones sobre Melquisedec en los manuscritos de QUilll"8.n," Biblica 81 (2000) 70-80;
and A. Aschim, "The Genre of 11QMelchizedek," in: F.H. Cryer and T.L. Thompson
(eds.), Qumran between the Old and New Testaments (Journal for the Study of the Old
Testament, Supplement Series 290; Sheffield, 1998; pp. 17-31). For the older works see
also E. Puech, "Notes sur le manuscrit de XIQMelkisedeq," Revue de Qumran 12 (1987)
483-513. Most scholars date the fragments of the scroll to 50 BCE 25 years. The story
may be older (if the reconstruction in ii 18 is correct, the book of Daniel is terminus post
quem), but the extant text is possibly the autograph. Its train of thought, its terminology
and its genre as a pesher make a sectarian origin practically certain. See the recent reinvestigation by Aschim, "The Genre of 11QMelchizedek." The texts of the Hebrew Bible
used by IIQMelchizedek include Lev 25:9-13; Deut 15:2; Isa 52:7; 61:1-3; Ps 7:8-9;
82:1-2; and probably Dan 9:25-26. The relationship to Hebrews is discussed below.
pll
91
[,J]'?Zli;I1U [']ll7J!([1 11K] 'J) 71J 7ll' 1J 1!1J? ,1'll7J7;'1 ?J[P]il (L'jl]O ;'!(K1];'1 D'11[!1:m 01]'1
And the D[ay of Atone]ment6 1 i[s] the e[nd of] the tenth [ju]bilee in which atonement
will be made for all the sons of [light and for] the men [of] the lot of Mel[chi]zedek.
(IIQMelchizedek ii 7-8).
It is evident from the extant text that the author of II QMelchizedek considered to be Melchizedek a high priest, since he is described as an individual performing a collective atonement on Yom Kippur. 61 This might have
been stated explicitly in a line of the text no longer extant. Meichizedek is
the incumbent of the high priesthood in Targumic sources, 63 and his role is
very close to that of Michael, the heavenly high priest in Second Temple
and rabbinic sources. 64 Furthermore, it is quite probable that 4QVisions of
Amram' 2:3 identifies the two as heavenly opponents of Belial. 65
With regard to the imaginaire of Yom Kippur in the Book of the
Watchers, the most important development is that IIQMelchizedek has
embellished the details of the proximity of the eschatological purification
to the high-priestly ritual on Yom Kippur. Meichizedek explicitly atones,
and the day of judgment is explicitly called Yom Kippur. Does I I QMelchizedek also reinforce the elements depicting the evil opponent in terms
Grabbe, "The Scapegoat Tradition," p. 166.
This universally recognized reconstruction is based on the context of the Jubilee,
which according to Lev 25:9-10 begins on Yom Kippur, and by the mention of1!1J?. See
Garcia-Martinez, Tigchelaar and van der Woude, "11QMelchizedek." p. 231.
62 This was first asserted by Emile Puech, "Notes sur le manuscrit de XIQMelkisedeq," p. 512: "En llQMelkisedeq, ce personnage est clairement considere comme le
grand pretre de Ia liturgie celeste au YOm KippUr puisque executant les jugements divins,
it fait !'Expiation defmitive ... signifiant le pardon divin des transgressions passees pour
ceux de son lot. ... Dans le contexte de J'epoque, Ia fonction sacerdotale d'expiation etait
le propre du grand pretre au jour de Kippur."
63 M. McNamara, "Melchizedek: Gen 14,17-20 in the Targums, in Rabbinic and Early
Christian Literature," Biblica 81 (2000) 1-31, here pp. 22-26.
64 On the relations between Michael and Melchizedek, see e.g. J. Davila, "Melchizedek, Michael, and War in Heaven," in: Society of Biblical Literature 1996 Seminar Papers (35; Atlanta [Ga.], 1996; pp. 259-272); P.J. Kobelski, Melchizedek and MelchireSa
(Catholic Biblical Qu~erly, Monograph Series 10; Washington, 1981). On Michael, see
the classic by W. Lueken, Michael. Eine Darstellung und Vergleichung der jiidischen
und der morgenltindisch-christlichen Tradition vom Erzengel Michael (GOttingen, 1898).
Carol Newsom has suggested that Melchizedek be reconstructed as the name of a heavenly angel in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q401 11 3; 22 3): Newsom, Songs of
the Sabbath Sacrifice, pp. 134 and 143-144.
65
The ingenious reconstruction was suggested by Milik and is accepted by most
scholars, see Kobelski, Melchizedek and Me/chireSa, pp. 24-36.
60
61
92
of the scapegoat? Belial is devoured by fire aod not thrown into a pit in the
desert. 66 IIQMelchizedek is closer to the Shemihaza layer of I Enoch (influenced by Yom Kippur in a general fashion) thao to the Asael layer
(influenced by the scapegoat ritual). However, the extaot text is far too
short aod too fragmentary to resolve this question!'
1.2.3 The Apocalypse ofAbraham: Zechariah 3 Meets the Demonology of
'Az'azel
The narrative of the Apocalypse of Abraham includes a heavenly journey
by Abraham, set in the scene of the sacrifice of Genesis 15. 68 A bird lands
on the halved animals aod tries talking to Abraham:
13:6 And it came to pass when I saw the bird speaking I said this to the angel:
"What is this, my lord?" And he said, "This is disgrace, 69 this is Azazel!" 1 And be
said to him, "Shame on you, Azazel! 7 For Abraham's portion 71 is in heaven, and
66
11 QMe/chizedek iii 7; on the burning, I Enoch 10:13-14.

E.g. Belial may have been hurled down in the desert later in the text, in a line that
did not survive the troubles of t.itiJF.
68
The text is extant only in a Slavonic translation, its original language was Semitic,
either Hebrew or Aramaic. I used the translation and commentary by A. Kulik, "Apocalypse of Abraham. Towards the Lost Original,.. (Ph.D. dissertation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2000); and the two translations by R. Rubinkiewicz: "The Apocalypse
of Abraham," in: J.H. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 1 (New
York, 1983; pp. 681-705), and 'Apocalypse d'Abraham en vieux slave. Introduction,
texte critique, traduction et commentaire (Zr6dla i monografie 129; Lublin, 1987); and
compared them to the translations by B. Philonenko-Sayar and P. Marc (eds.), "L'Apocalypse d' Abraham. Introduction, texte slave, traduction et notes," Semitica 31 (1981) 7117; and B. Philonenko-Sayar and M. Philonenko, Die Apocalypse Abrahams (Jiidische
Schriften aus hellenistischer und rOmischer Zeit 5:5; Giitersloh, 1982).
The ApocalyPse of Abraham has been dated to around I 00 CE 20 years, which
makes it contemporaneous with the later writings of the New Testament. See Rubinkiewicz, "The Apocalypse of Abraham," p. 683. His evidence in L 'Apocalypse d'Abraham en vieux slave for an even more exact dating (between 79 and 81 CE) is not
convincing.
69 Rubinkiewicz's Greek reconstruction is O.oe~eia. In his French translation Rubinkiewicz reads iniquiti. He postulates ;-ro,7.) or l11ln as the original Hebrew reading (L 'Apocalypse d'Abraham en vieux slave, 143-147). Philonenko-Sayar's French translation
reads impieti and her German version reads Gottlosigkeit. Kulik, "Apocalypse of
Abraham," pp. 89-90, translates "iniquity" and suggests as additional possibilities "disgrace," (O.n~ia lll7j? 1;-rn'?J), "impiety" (Qoe~eia) I "wickedness" (l71ll,) l"transgress[ion]"
(l1tu!l) I "iniquity'' (llll1).
70 Rubinkiewicz suggests 1:1 ,37l' as the original reading, the same reading as Zech 3:2.
Kulik, "Apocalypse of Abraham," p. 90, does not discuss this possibility. He translates
'"reproach is on you" and suggests Ove100<; as the Greek and ;-!!l,n as the Hebrew reading.
He proposes that behind the two terms "iniquity'' and ''reproach" in 13:6-7 stood ntul:J
7
6
93
yours is on earth, 8 for you have selected here, (and) become enamored of the
dwelling place of your blemish. Therefore the Eternal Ruler, the Mighty One, has
given you a dwelling on earth. 9 Through you the all-evil spirit (is) a liar, and
through you (are) wrath and trials on the generations of men who live impiously.
72
10 For the Eternal, Mighty One did not [send] the bodies of the righteous to be in
your hand, so through them the righteous life is affinned and the destruction of
ungodliness. 11 Hear, counselor, be shamed by me! You have no permission to
tempt all the righteous. 12 Depart from this man! 13 You cannot deceive him, because he is the enemy of you and of those who follow you and who love what you
wish. 14 For behold, the garment which in heaven was formerly yours has been set
aside for him, and the corruption73 which was on him has gone over to you."
14 :1 And the angel said to me, "Abraham!" And I said, "Here I am, your servant"
2 And he said, "Know from this that the Eternal One whom you have loved has
chosen you. 3 Be bold and do through your authority whatever I order you against
him who reviles justice. 4 Will I not be able to revile him who has scattered about
the earth the secrets of heaven and who has taken counsel against the Mighty One?
5 Say to him, "May you be the firebrand of the furnace of the earth! Go, Azazel,
into the untrodden parts of the earthJ4 6 For your heritage is over those who are
with you, with the stars and with the men born by the clouds, whose portion you
are, indeed they exist through your being. 1 Enmity is for you a pious act. Therefore through your own destruction be gone from me!" 8 And I said the words as the
angel had taught me. 9 And he said, ''Abraham." And I said, "Here I am, your
servant!" 10And the angel said to me, "Answer him not!" II And he spoke to me a
second time. 12 And the angel said, "Now, whatever he says to you, answer him
not, lest his will run up to you. 13 For the Eternal, Mighty One gave him the gravity and the will. Answer him not." 14 And I did what the angel had commanded me.
And whatever he said to me about the descent, I answered him not. 75
The name of the chief of the demons, Azazel, reveals the influence of the
demonology of I Enoch and Leviticus 16. Beyond that, several formulations allude to the imaginaire of Yom Kippur. Marc Philonenko aod Belkis
Philonenko-Sayar traoslate the Slavonic equivalent for "portion" in 13:7 as
"lot," which may reflect the dualistic aothropology of two lots, one evil
Ol!l1n1 (lsa 30:5) or Ol!l,m ;-ry1 (Ps 15:3; Neb 1:3) as the original Semitic reading. Prov 18:3
reads Crttp.ia Kai Ovtt.Oo~ I ;,~nn.117i'.

71
On this word and its allusion to Yom Kippur, see the following paragraph.
71
This is Kulik's translation. On this word and its allusion to Lev 16, see the following paragraph.
73
The Greek reconstruction is <p96pa; in his French translation Rubinkiewicz uses
piche, while Philonenko-Sayar and Philonenko choose pourriture and Venvesung. The
Hebrew equivalent suggested by Rubinkiewicz (nnJ) is defmitely misspelled and probably should be read as nmu, seePs 102 (103):4; Jonah 2:7.
74
On this word and its allusion to LXX Lev 16 and Philo on Yom Kippur, see the
following paragraph.
7
s Apocalypse of Abraham 13-14 according to Rubinkiewicz, "The Apocalypse of
Abraham."
and one good 76 Alexander Kulik translates "send" in 13: I 0 and connects
the Slavonic word to a1toatel.l.ro/n'?w 77 This may allude to the sending out
of the scapegoat. Also the formulation "Go, Azazel, into the untrodden
parts of the earth" (14:5) is reminiscent of the Septnagint version's translation of Leviticus 16:22 to sir; yfiv O.pa1:ov 78 and the expression chosen by
Philo in his description of Yom Kippur sir; O:tptPft Kai O.Pa1:ov i:pru1tav i:x:79
nt~nstv E:cp' EautP KOJ.Lit;;ovta tO.r; imp t&v 7tATJ~.1JlSATiaclvtrov (lpiir;.
Ryszard Rubinkiewicz has showu that Zechariah 3 was also a source of
inspiration for the Apocalypse of Abraham. 80 The basic scene in the two
texts is very similar. A single human being stands before two angels, a
good defender and a satanic accuser. The good angel rebukes the bad
one. 81 And, most importantly, the central act is the same: the change of
garments symbolizing the change from an impure to a pure state. This
shows that even though the author of Zechariah might not have had Yom
Kippur in mind, his readers perceived his text as alluding to Leviticus 16.
Compared to Zechariah 3, the Apocalypse of Abraham embellishes the
Yom Kippur imagery. The high priest does not put his unclean clothes
aside, as in Zechariah 3 or in Leviticus 16, but his corruption is put on
Azazel, as on the scapegoat in the temple ritual. 11 QMelchizedek, too,
makes the connection of the eschatological myth to Yom Kippur more explicit. Both texts show that even in groups that could not (any longer)
celebrate Yom Kippur in the temple the scapegoat ritual served as a source
of inspiration to describe the cosmological struggle against evil.
combining elements from the scapegoat ritual in Leviticus with the scene
of Zechariah 3. I shall argue below that it is through this association of
Yom Kippur with Zechariah 3, with its high priest Joshua/Jesus, that
christian Jewish thinkers before Hebrews justified the high priesthood of
the non-Levite Jesus. 82
94
Concluding Thoughts on 'Az'azel in the Apocalyptic Literature

The mythopoetic power of Yom Kippur in apocalypticism is impressive.
We have seen that the myth of the origin and the eschatological end of sin
and Satan in 1Enoch 10 was formulated with the ritual of the scapegoat in
mind. This myth was highly influential in Second Temple Judaism and
Christian Judaism. 11 QMelchizedek picked up this myth and depicted the
leader of the good in high-priestly terms, and the day of judgment as Yom
Kippur. The Apocalypse ofAbraham employs the demonology of 'Az'azel,
76 Philonenko-Sayar and Philonenko translate lot (French) and Los (German). In his
French translation Rubinkiewicz translates "car Ia gloire d'Abraham est dans le ciel etta
gloire est sur la terre." He postulates 11D as the original reading.
n Kulik, "Apocalypse of Abraham," p. 90. Rubinkiewicz translates "allow."
78 Kulik, "Apocalypse of Abraham," p. 90.
79 De specialibus legibus 1:188.
80 Rubinkiewitz, Die Eschatologie von Henoch 9-/ I und das Neue Testament,
pp. 101-2 and 110-113.
81 Rubinkiewicz goes so far as to assume behind the extant Slavonic 1~ 117l' the same
Hebrew wording as in Zech 3.
95
1.3 Etiologies
Several etiologies for Yom Kippur existed side by side in Second Temple
Judaism. The biblical account has Leviticus 16 as part of the revelation of
Monnt Sinai after the sin of the golden calf (Exodus 32-33), the covenant
renewal (Exodus 34), the construction of the tabernacle (Exodus 35-40),
the consecration of Aaron (Leviticus 8-9), and the death of the two sons of
Aaron, Nadav and Avihu (Leviticus 10), and before the census (Numbers 1). Leviticus 16: I explicitly links the preparations for Yom Kippur to
the death of Aaron's sons. I Enoch and llQMelchizedek perceive Yom
Kippur as an eschatological day of liberation of the good prisoners from
the vanquished powers of evil. 83
Jubilees mentions two etiologies of Yom Kippur. According to chapter 5:17-18, Noah's repentance before the flood was the precedent for ordering an annual day of repentance to achieve God's mercy:
And for the children oflsrael it has beeQ written and ordained, "If they return
to him in righteousness, he will forgive all of their sins and be will pardon all of
their transgressions." t8a It is written and it is ordained, "He will have mercy on all
who return from all their error, once each year." 84
5:17
This passage is the earliest evidence for an association of Yom Kippur

with repentance.
The other passage explains Yom Kippur as punislunent for Jacob's sons~
who caused their father to suffer and Bilhah and Dinah even to die, out of
sorrow for Joseph: 85
34:10 And in the seventh year of this week he sent Joseph from his house to the land
of Shechem in order that he might know about the welfare of his brothers, and he
found them in the land of Dothan. 11 And they acted fraudulently and made a plot
against him to kill him, but they repented and sold him to a band of Isbmaelites.
And they took him down to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh,
the chief guard, the priest of the city of Heliopolis.
82
See pp. 194--197, below.

See pp. 85-92, above.
84
Jubilees 5:17-18, translation by O.S. Wintermute, "Jubilees," in: J. Charlesworth
(ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2 (New York, 1985; pp. 35-142). On this
p~sage, see Kraus, Der Tod Jesu als Heiligtumsweihe, pp. 71-72, note 1.
:-- ~- The death of the women is not further included in the etiology in Jubilees or in modern studies. See Jubilees 34:18 itself.
83
96

34:12 And the sons of Jacob slaughtered a kid and dipped Joseph's garment into
the blood and sent (it) to Jacob, their father, on the tenth of the seventh month.
13 And he lamented all of that night, because they had brought it to him in the
evening.
34:13b And he became feverish in lamenting his death, and said that, "A cruel
beast has eaten Joseph," And all of the men of his house lamented with him on
that day. And it happened as they were mourning and lamenting with him aU that
day 14 that his sons and his daughters rose up to comfort him but he was not comforted concerning his son.
IS And on that day Bilhah heard that Joseph had perished and she died while
mourning for him. And she was dwelling in Qafratef_ And Dinah, his daughter,
also died after Joseph perished. And these three lamentations came upon Israel in
a single month. t6 And they buried Bilhah opposite the tomb of Rachel, and they
also buried Dinah, his daughter, there. 11 And it happened, as they lamented for
Joseph one year, that he was not consoled, because he said, "I will go down to the
grave lamenting for my son."
1s Therefore it is decreed for the children of Israel that they mourn on the tenth
(day) of the seventh month- on the day when that which caused him to weep for
Joseph came to Jacob, his father- so that they might atone for them(selves) with a
young kid on the tenth (day) of the seventh month, once a year, on account of their
sin because they caused the affection of their father to grieve for Joseph, his son.
And this day is decreed so~at they might mourn on it on account of their sins and
on account of all their transgressions and on account of aU their errors in order to
purifY themselves on this day, once a year. 86
Jubilees does not use the term Yom Kippur, but the date identifies the festival beyond doubt. According to Jubilees it is mourning that purifies from
all kinds of sins. The wording evokes the three kinds of sins of Leviticus 16:21. Interestingly, from a ritual point of view, is the emphasis on
mourning in the night. 87 Moreover, as in Jubilees 5:17-18, Jubilees 34:10
also connects repentance to Yom Kippur, albeit in a less explicit way. Repentance prevents the brothers from killing Joseph. Measure for measure,
each year the descendants suffer for what their ancestors caused. Similarly,
the atoning sacrifice of a young kid takes up the slaughtering of that kid
whose blood colored Joseph's garrnent88 Twice Jubilees emphasizes that
the sin was the transmission of the bloody garment. 89 A remnant of this tradition appears again in post-temple Palestinian tradition. 90 In its description of the high-priestly garments the Palestinian Talmud mentions that the
86
87
Jubilees 34:12.13a.l8, transl. Wintermute.

Jubilees 34:13.
88
Both kids could be alluded to. The brothers dip the garment in blood and then send
it to the father (Jubilees 34: 12).
89
Jubilees 34:13 (brought it) and 34:18 (came that which).
90
Philo mentions Joseph's coat conspicuously close to an allegorization of the highpriestly coat of the festive garments, albeit without allusion to Joseph's death. See De
somniis 1:220, and 213-219.
97
mmJ of the high priest atones for bloodshed according to Genesis 37:21,
while some early Sidrei Avodah even embellish the allusion to Joseph and
the atonement for the faked murder.91
Qumran associates other mythological events with Yom Kippur without
being an etiology in the strict sense of the word. According to the highly
fragmentary lQWords of Moses, Yom Kippur is somehow connected to the
crossing of the Jordan, i.e. the end of forty years of distress, the dependence on manna and the beginning of happier times in the land oflsrael: 92
[Because] your [fathers] wandered [in the wilderness] until the te[nth] day of the
month ... {a correction} [on the te]nth [day] of the month [All work sh]all be forbidden and on the t[enth] day [of] the month will be atoned ... 93
Usually, this event is dated to 10 Nisan, 94 but it seems quite certain that it
speaks of Yom Kippur as the references to abstention from work and
atonement reveal. Unfortunately, the rest of the text (iii:l2- iv:ll) is too
fragmentary. The connection between Yom Kippur and manna also appears
in the Festival Prayers and in Philo?' This parallel may point to a common
tradition or to a common biblical source- the juxtaposition of manna with
the root ;uv in Deuteronomy 8:3, which the three texts used independently
'-a less likely possibility.%
JA Qumran: The Current Period ofPersecution as Yom Kippur
Despite the fact that so many of the Second Temple sources on Yom Kippur were found in Qumran, it is difficult to formulate a synthesis of the
conception of Yom Kippur in the community. 97 Often it is impossible to
91 See e.g. Yose ben Yose's 'Azkir Gevurot 'Eloah (ed. Mirsky, p. 156, line 160); and
'Attah Konanta (ed. Mirsky, p. 192, line 98). See M. Swartz, ''The Semiotics of the
Priestly Vestments in Ancient Judaism" in AJ. Baumgarten (ed.), Sacrifice in Religious
Experience (Studies in the History of Religions [Numen Book Series] 93; Leiden,
Boston, and Cologne, 2002; pp. 57-80), pp. 72-76.

92 I would like to thank Jan Willem van Henten for kindly drawing my attention to this
text.
93
1Q22 Words of Moses iii:9-11 - my translation of the text in Milik, Discoveries in
the Jordanian Desert 1 (1955) 94-95. See also Perrot, La Lecture de Ia Bible dans Ia
Synagogue, p. 156, note 27 and p. 268, note 4.
94
Josh 4:19 dates this event to the tenth day of the first month.
95
See pp. 41 and 47, above, and see bYoma 74b.
% Further on, in the section on rabbinic thought, I will refer to additional mythological
events associated with Yom Kippur. See pp. 121-124, below.
,-- ;-?7 In this short survey I have profited from the previous suggestions by Baumgarten.
~'Yom Kippur in the Qumran Scrolls and Second Temple Sources"; Hacham, "Communal
in the Judean Desert Scrolls and Associated Literature"; Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and
, <esr.rva.l f'ray,m in the Dead Sea Scrolls; Grintz, "A Seder Avodah for Yom Kippur from
Qunmm", Wieder, The Judean Scrolls and Karaism; Lehmann, '"Yom Kippur' in
98
establish the Sitz im Leben of a certain text in the life of the community.
The demonology of llQMe/chizedek, 4Ql80 and 4Ql81, which is connected to Yom Kippur, has already been briefly mentioned. These three
texts indicate that even in the community of Qumran, which did not attend
services in the temple and did not experience the scapegoat ritual as an annual preenactment of the final victory over evil, the influence of Yom Kippur's temple ritual was persistent enough to lead to creative literary
activity and produce myths. As in one of Philo's interpretations, the people
from Qumran understood their own existence through the image of the two
lots -they themselves are the people of God's lot in opposition to the lot
of Belial led by the wicked priest 98 'Az'azel/'Azaz'el was clearly understood as a demon and purveyor of evil (4Ql80 and 4Ql81). Considering
that it was probably on a Yom Kippur that the group's persecution
started, 99 this typology of Yom Kippur as a fight between the good and the
evil forces must have reinforced the importance of the annual festival in
determining the identity of the community of Qumran. Yom Kippur had an
ambivalent character. On the one hand, it recalled the beginning of the persecution and gave some meaning to current afflictions during the persecution; on the other hand, the end of this persecution was expected to mark
the beginning of the eschatological period of bliss and liberation from Belial's prison by the high priest Melchizedek. Such a perception of the sufferings ('ll'Y) of the current period (1Y1~) of persecution as afflictions of an
ongoing Yom Kippur (n'lYn) is supported by two passages in 4Ql71
Pes her on Psalms:
"And the poor shall inherit the land and enjoy peace in plenty." (Psalms 37:11) Its
interpretation concerns the congregation of the poor who will tolerate the period of
distress (n'J:!i'n;'11j)'11J) and will be rescued from all the snares ofBelial.l00
"And in the days of famine they shall be re[plete]; for the wicked shall die."
(Psalms 37:19-20) Its interpretation: he will keep them alive during the famine of
Qumran"; L. Schiffman, "The Case of the Day of Atonement Ritual," Biblical Perspectives (I 998) 181-188, whose work is directly concerned with Yom Kippur in Qumran.
n IIQMelchizedek; Philo, Legum allegoriae 2:52; cf. Quis rerum divinarum heres sit
179-187.
99 "'Woe to anyone making his companion drunk, spilling out his anger! He even
makes him drunk to look at their festivals!' (Hab 2:15)- Its interpretation concerns the
Wicked Priest who pursued the Teacher of Righteousness to consume him with the fero-=
city of his anger in the place of his banishment, in festival time, during the rest of the
Day of Atonement. He paraded in front of them, to consume them and make them fall on
the day of fasting, the Sabbath of their rest": 1QPesher Habakkuk xi:2-8, transl. in
DSST.
100 4Ql71 ii:9-11; transL in DSST.
99
the time of [dis]tress (n'Jl7m 131113), when many will die because of famine and
plague: all who did not leave [there] with the congregation of his chosen ones. 101
In all likelihood, the end of this period of affliction was viewed as the final
victory of the powers of the good lot against their opponents; some expected that Melchized~k and the Qurnranites would fight against their oppressors.102 The affhchons by the persecutors were probably perceived as a
kind of flagella Dei 103 Such a perception of the current time as an extended Yom Kippur is quite similar to that of Hebrews. 104
Joseph Bamngarten has revived Wieder's thesis that the Yom Kippur
controversy between the Qurnranites and the priests in charge of the temple
concerned not only the date but also the character of the festival. 105
Accordingly, the Qururanites celebrated Yom Kippur as a day of mourning
and affliction, while the more popular Pharisaic-rabbinic festival had an
ambivalent character, including joy and moral purification. He provides
two arguments for this. First, the term IPJlJn;"f 11'1iJ/tn' (day/time of affliction) appears only in sourceS from Qumran. Second, Jubilees with its emphasis on mourning and suffering probably had canonical status in Qumran. While Baumgarten's and Wieder's thesis is possible, there remains a
methodological crux. The sources for the Jerusalem Yom Kippur at the
time of the temple are few in number and rather complex. Baumgarten uses
Philo, the Mishnah and the inclusion of Leviticus 18 in the rabbinic readings of Yom Kippur. None of them describes the attitudes of second- and
first-century BCE Pharisees. Putting a diaspora source together with posttemple destruction sources for a reconstruction of Yom Kippur in Jerusalem at the time of the temple against the evidence from the Qumran scrolls
presupposes Qumran to be distinct from all the rest. Yet some of its scrolls
are certaiuly closer to the Mishnah than is Philo. Furthermore, some Qumian texts seem to contradict Baumgarten's sharp distinction. As Baumgarten himself remarks, 11 QMelchizedek adds the expectation of eschatological bliss and liberation of the Jubilee year to the demonic struggle on
Yom Kippur. The inclusion of mourning in some piyyutim also contradicts
such a sharp distinction into joyful, Pharisaic, mainstream Yom Kippur
and sad, Qumranic, sectarian Yom Kippur.1osa
101
4Ql71 iii:2-5; transl. in DSST.

See pp. 41 and 90-92, above.
103
See Baumgarten, "Yom Kippur in the Qumran Scrolls and Second Temple
Sources," p. 188.
~lOot Seep. 181, below.
J05 Baumgarten, "Yom Kippur in the Qumran Scrolls and Second Temple Sources,"
p. 191.
IOSa See above, p. 34, note 98.
102
Fast and prayer determine the Yom Kippur worship of Qumran, as in

Philo's diaspora and the land of Israel. For example, IQPesher Habakkuk
describes Yom Kippur primarily as a day of fasting and abstention from
work (xi:6-8). The place of fasting is underscored in II QTemp/e Scroll,
which places Leviticus 23:27-32 before Leviticus 16 in its Yom Kippur
rulings and therefore starts and ends with the precept of fasting. 106 Some of
the motifs mentioned in the Festival Prayers on Yom Kippur appear also
chatological, redeeming high priest, who conquers evil and liberates its
prisoners, becomes one of the messianic conceptions of Second Temple
Judaism. Below, I analyze traces of this conception in Hebrews. I also
argue that the association of the vision in Zechariah 3 with the imaginaire
of y om Kippur had a decisive influence on the early high-priest Christo-
100
101
With high-priestly imagery (II QMe/chizedek). Expectations of such an es-
logy before Hebrews.
in other texts found in Qumran that are connected to Yom Kippur: repen-
Many etiologies in addition to these apocalyptic myths were connected
tance (Jubilees 5:17-18); sorrow and weeping causing divine mercy (Jubilees 34); the manna (IQWords of Moses); punishment of the wicked
(11 QMe/chizedek); and humankind divided into two lots (11 QMelchizedek).
to Yom Kippur. Jubilees explains the fast as punishment for the sins of the
forefathers entailing an obligation to cry and mourn. Jubilees is also the
There is no explicit connection between the temple cult and Qumran's
first witness for the association of repentance with Yom Kippur, evidence
for a certain individualization of the cult. Qumran probably connected the

demonological mythology to a perception of the current time as Yom Kip-
Yom Kippur prayers.' 07 The extant fragments do not mention priestly or

high-priestly sacrifices, incense, blood, animals or the temple. Yet this
does not mean that the Yom Kippur prayer service did not include texts
with such practices or objects. An argumentum e silentio is weak for Qumran and its fragmented library. Furthermore, we should not exclude the
possibility of a solemn liturgical recital of Leviticus or of other texts connected to Yom Kippur in the temple, especially 4QTargum of Leviticus or
II QTemp/e Scroll.
ment. The creation of rationales for a ritual could take place independently
of participation in the actual ritual, as is demonstrated by II QMe/chizedek,
4Ql80 and 4Q181, which were written by Qumranites who most probably
did not take part in the temple ritual, or by the Apocalypse ofAbraham, at
which time the temple no longer existed. This does not mean that the apocalyptic Yom Kippur mythology implies the temple ritual was void in the
Conclusion
cosmological and eschatological meaning (!Enoch), the two main theological interests of apocalypticism.
Some apocalyptic sources depict the vision of God as an ascent of the

visionary to the heavenly holy of holies, using allusions to the entrance of
the high priest on Yom Kippur (I Enoch 14, Testament of Levi). These
visions may have been partially ritualized, as the Songs of the Sabbath
Sacrifice suggest. We shall see below that Valentinian theologians and
subsequently Clement of Alexandria adopted this imaginaire, reinforcing
the Yom Kippur elements and, in the case ofValentinian Christianity, developing a ritual, too.
Some apocalyptic sources depict the demonic leader of the fallen angels, the evil forces, in terms of the scapegoat. These evil forces are to be
conquered by the leader of the good forces (/Enoch), who can be described
pur, and the afflictions by the persecutors as suffering to achieve atone-
eyes of its writers. On the contrary, existing ritual was given a deeper
2. Yom Kippur in the Greek Diaspora

This section investigates Yom Kippur in the Septuagint, in Philo and in
4Maccabees. These tbree Greek diaspora texts come from periods as different as the third century BCE, the first century CE and the second to fourth
centuries CE. The decision to group together texts that emerged over such
wide a time span as 400 to 600 years was made mainly for pragmatic reasons. First, I did not want to fragment too severely the section on the
imaginaires. Second, the three texts present three different attitudes to
Yom Kippur in the Greek Mediterranean diaspora and therefore reflect the
106 In his commentary, Milgrom has integrated explanations of the smaller digressions
of 11QTemple Scroll from Leviticus.
107 The most important information about the Yom Kippur ritual in Qumran comes
from the Festival Prayers discussed above. Some of the concepts mentioned in the Yom .
Kippur prayers are not found in connection with Yom Kippur in the Yom Kippur
passages of the other scrolls: God's omniscience, Yom Kippur as a special season for God's mercy and indwelling, and the brokenness of human existence.
pluralism of diaspora Judaism, often seen in too monolithic a perspective.
The Septuagint translates Leviticus in a way that makes Jewish ritual understandable to pagans and Jews living in a pagan environment, without
spiritualizing or allegorizing and, surprisingly, without taking into consideration the way Yom Kippur was celebrated in the diaspora. In this, the
Septuagint differs from the Targurnim. About 250 to 300 years later, Philo
completely spiritualizes the temple ritual. Yom Kippur becomes the "open
102
fI
..
.
.
103
day" presenting the true lifestyle of the wise man, who lives every day as if
it were Yom Kippur. Philo does not reject the temple ritual, but in his
descriptions of the liturgy he focuses on the diaspora ritual of afflictions
and prayers. 4Maccabees was written at a time when the temple no longer
functioned and uses the temple ritual to explain the idea of vicarious
atonement by martyrs.
2.1 The Septuagint: Conservatism and Enculturation

The earliest diaspora interpretation of Yom Kippur is the translation of Leviticus from the third century BCE. By comparing its vocabulary to the
non-Jewish context and to the Masoretic Text we can learn much about the
translators~ ideology. Did they want to preserve the "uniqueness" or "distinctiveness" of Je"wish religion by choosing distinct terminologies for
Jewish and non-Jewish religions as e.g. F11:l and ,m) in the Targumim? In
her dissertation about the cultic vocabulary of the Septuagint, Suzanne
Daniel came to the opposite conclusion. "Les traducteurs alexandrins, on le
voit, n'6prouvent aucune difficultc! a puiser largement dans le vocabulaire
des Paiens pour rendre les notions propres ala religion juive." 108 According to Daniel, most Septuagint: neologisms can be explained by means
other than isolationism. In the following section I will briefly discuss the
translations of 7rNrY, ,o) and mlOJ, three words central to the ritual of
Yom Kippur, which were not included in Daniel's study. 109
108
l
I
In Leviticus 16:8 and 16:10 7TNT9 is translated as anono,.ma\o<; and ano1t0~1ti}. In their important commentary.on Leviticus ~n the Se~tuagint, Paul
Harle and Didier Pralon regarded thts as a consctous avotdance of the
and a7tot~om~aJ.l
o. iiOiarn
widespread Greek reI..
tgtous terms a1totponato
.
not so sure. The term 0.1t01tOJ.lnft is attested for the first trme m !socrates In
. to dnve
. away pagan chthorne
. go ds. Ill
the fourth century BCE as a nte
Apollodorus of Athens (second century BCE) is claimed to have called
some gods ci1t01tOJ.lrtatm. 112 He is, of course, not earher ~an the translation
of Leviticus, but in this instance it is much more conceivable that ~e Septuagint adopted pagan religious terms than vice versa. A1tono~naw~ and
ci1t01tOJ.1.1tft are rare terms, but as Renate Schlesier points out, the reas~n for
this rariry lies in the ritual itself. "Kennzeichnend ist dabei [forthe ntual],
daB die deskriptiven WOrter apopompe, apop6mpein usw. fast nnmer vermieden werden." 113 Both words, 0.1tonotmft and 0.1totporttO.OJ.l6~. describe the
same religious concept. I do not think an attempt to distinguish Judaism
(Lev 16:20.24). In Lev 25:9-10, the translation ofiln~ll1i'J as :Jta"tpiOa reflects a lar~er scal_e
of geography~ the slaves return to their homeland, i.e. they have worked outside thetr
country.
uo D. Pralon and p. Harle (transl.), Le Livitique. Traduction du texte grec de !a
Septante, introduction et notes (La Bible d'Alexandrie 3; Paris, 1988), P 151. A search
in the TLG 8.0 gave about 8 pagan, 1 Jewish, and 16 Christian occurrences of lino-rpontaaJ.16~ and 53 pagan, 2 Jewish and 70 Christian instances of axo.poxaio~ (without the
lexicographers). Of the former, only one is prior to the Septuagmt (Aesop, F~bulae
56:3). This, however, does not include inscriptions an~ papyri. Ofthe latter, man~ mstances are prior to the Septuagint, the most famous bemg probably the passage m Plato,
Nomoi 854b.
m "Nay, in the case of the gods also we invoke as the 'Heav~n.ly Ones' th?se who
bless us with good things, while to those who are agents of calamities and puntshments
we apply more hateful epithets; in honour of the former, both private persons and .states
erect temples and altars, whereas we honour the latter neither in our prayers nor m our
sacrifices, but practice rites to drive away their evil presence ( -roU~ 0' ~- tv tai~ tUxat~
ofrt' tv ui<; eooi<n~ Hf.l.Cl~e vow;. au: lixoxo).l.xir.~ a-inffiv lJf.l.ii~ n:otou~tvow;). Isocr~tes,
Philippus (oralio 5) 117; transl. by G. Norlin (ed.), !socrates I (LCL 209; Cambndge
[Mass.] and London, 1966).
.
112 Apollodorus of Athens, Peri Theon 6, fra~ent ,5 apud Harp.ocrat.t~n ~e Gr.ammarian (first to second centuries CE): itxon:o~xaiot nv~ tt::aAoilvto etot, 'ltEI)t rov AxoAAo6ropo~ Sv f:t::-rro 'ltpi ae&v Ou:iAtt::ut; see K. MUller, Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum
(5 vols; Paris, 1841-1870; vol. 1, pp. 428--469); or W. Dindorf, Harpocrationis lex~con
in decem oratores Atticos (Oxford, 1853; repr. Groningen, 1969), p. 49. The late antique
lexicographer Hesychius (probably fifth century CE) knows of days called O.xoxo~xai, on
which the people performed sacrifices to divinities called itn:oxo~xaiOl. See K. Latte,
Hesychii Alexandrini lexicon (A-0) (2 vols; Copenhagen, 1953, 1966), alpha 6552:
Cmoxo~xal.: tlJltpat nvi~. tv at~ &ooiat teAoilvto -rot~ itxoxo~naiot~ 8eo'i~m R. Schlesier, "Apopompe," Handbuch religionswissenschqftlicher Grundbegriffe 2
(1990) 38-41, here p. 39.
S. Daniel, Recherches sur le vocabulaire du cu/te dans Ia Septante (Etudes et com-
mentaires 61; Paris, 1966), p. 365.

109 The thinking of the translators is apparent also in the following instances, which, of
course, is far from being a complete list:
a) Difficult words: ,m7 in Lev 16:21 as an attribute of the man leading away the
scapegoat is translated as E:tol.J.LO<; (ready, prepared), just as in the Targumim and in
rabbinic sources. il1fl f1K 7K is translated as ei~ yftv ii!)awv, i.e. "to an impassable I ontrodden land" (Lev 16:22). In Lev 16:31 the translator simply transcribed 11nJll1 nJll1 as
mimktta aaj)j30:trov, adding the translation O.vci1tatJat~ (rest, repose).
b) Small glosses: As in the Targumim and in the opinion of Rabbi Aqiva, the
approach of the sons of Aaron is specified as arising from evil intent with "alien fire"
(Lev 16:1; cf. Lev 10). The same adaption occurs in the Peshitta to this verse. D.J. Lane,
The Peshitta of Leviticus (Monographs of the Peshitta Institute Leiden 6; Leiden, 1994),
p. 115, refers to Num 3:4. The Septuagint also specifies that the high priest washes his
whole body (Lev 16:4).
c) Slight changes: The garment of the high priest is sanctified (frruu:t~ivo~) rather
than sacred (iiyto~) (Lev 16:4). The Septuagint unvaryingly chooses <J1Jvayroyfl for the
three different Hebrew terms for the collective (Lev 16:5.17.33). The translation ~nflaet
probably reflects a factitive vocalization oflr.lli'' (Lev 16:10). In Lev 16:15 the translators
limit the amount of blood used by writing d7t0 -roii ai~a-ca<; (from the blood) for the
Hebrew m1 nx (the blood). In the same verse, "his hand" has become "his hands." The
Septuagint emphasizes the purification of the priests, adding it in two instances
'
~jL~:_ _
'
104
from Gr_eek religions was the reason for iz.nono).lnai<X; being preferred.
Rather, 1t reflects the Hebrew n?w (pi'e[) much better. ll.no<ponaio,, is
closer to :nw and ;'ll!:!Y 4
Only in Leviticus 16:26, do the translations deviate from the root
cbte1tOJ.lnit for 7nm7. The Hebrew 7nm77 1'37'llif is translated as -rOv xiJ.Lapov
-rOv Stsa-raAJ.1Svov ei; tirpeazv- "the goat, which was designated for the
release." What are the reasons for this deviation? What does ei<; li<peow
mean here? In the Septuagint of Leviticus the word a<pitun usually implies
the metaphysical release ofsins. 115 In Leviticus 16:10, a<pin~t signifies the
physical release of the goat. Paul Harle and Didier Pralon have suggested
that the gloss in Leviticus 16: I 0 - a<pl\Get au<OV (si, <Jiv epn~ov) - may
have been added to prepare the reader for iicpecrt<; in verse 26.U 6 In Leviticus 16:26, the word a<psat, was probably chosen to combine the two
meanings, i.e. the physical sending away of the goat and the metaphysical
release of sins.
The difficult term n11!1:J is connected to 19::1, "to atone." The translators
chose to reflect this proximity by selecting the related terms l.A.acrtijp1.0v
and (E!;)tAcimcoJ.lat, and not a transcription. In pagan sources (E~)tAUmcoJ.tat
means primarily 117 "to appease" or "to propitiate" - mostly applied to
118
god(s). The compositum sl;tl.amco~at is much rarer than the simple form
il.amco~at. For this verb, the idiolect of the Septuagint deviates from the
pagan use. First, in the Septuagint the compositum is more common than
iAUaKOJlat. Adding EK usually indicates an intensification. Perhaps it was
added here to better signify also the removal of the impurity. The same is
true for the neologism EStAa.crJlo'U in ti tiJ.I.Spa 'tofi EStAao:JloV.ll 9 Second, God
is almost never the object of (sl;)tl.aaKo~at, 120 but he may be the subject.
This new meaning, "God expiates sins," was coined by the Septuagint by
translating literally the Hebrew syntax of 19J (pi 'e). 121 The prepositions
105
with (E~)tAO:o:x:oJlat reflect the Hebrew use, too. The resulting Semitisms
must have been quite strange to the regular Greek speaker. Buchsel states
that this syntax was adopted by the readers of the Septuagint, 122 but Philo's
and Josephus' use is closer to the regular pagan idiom with God as
object. 123
The word for Tll1~J. iA.a.o'tftptov, is a neuter adjective (functioning as a
substantive) meaning "the propitiating" or "the expiating." 124 Outside of
Jewish and Christian texts, the word is extremely rare. The use of iA.aa'tftptov in Romans 3:25 caused a long and sometimes bitter discussion on its
exact meaning- more generally ~'propitiating/expiating place or means" or
specifically terminus technicus for Tll19J. In some instances, iAac:ni)ptov
translates words other than n119J, primarily in Ezekiel43:14-20, where it
stands five times for ;mY, a place at which atonement is achieved by pouring blood. Here, therefore, it means generally "place of atonement." But
for the reader of the Bible, the Torah was its center. On its first appearance
in Exodus 25: 17, iAao:'ti}pwv appears as iAaa-ctlptov Eni.OeJ.la, "propitiating I
expiating cover." In the following twenty instances, iAaaT{Jpwv is used
exclusively for the cover of the ark. 125 This use of iAaa'tftptov as terminus
technicus is also reflected by Philo, the Testament of Solomon and
Hebrews. Only 4Maccabees 17 and Josephus deviate from this use (and
then only once)-'26 Nevertheless, the Septuagint's translation of a specific
cultic instrument by using an abstract adjective instead of a transliteration
is the first step toward a spiritualization, as will be seen in the discussion
of Romans 3:25 and 4Maccabees 17. Yet the choice of such a rare word as
iAacnfipwv, which does not change the character of the word as distinct
terminus technicus, makes this step a small one.
Unlike the Targumim, the Septuagint did not specify halakhic regulations of the people's ritual (lll9J;J nR nuY?). For example, it is unclear
See Hatch and Redpath's concordance, s.v.

E.g. in Lev 4:20. In the context of Yom Kippur, ciq~emo; bears a second social"
meaning, the release of slaves (1111) in the Jubilee: Lev 25:10.
116
Pralon and Harle, Le Llivitique, pp. 152 and 154.
117
For other meanings, see Liddell and Scott, s.v.; and F. Btichsel and J. Herrmann,
"Hileos, hilaskomai, hilasmos, hilasterion," Theologisches Wdrterbuch zum Neuen Testament 3 (1938) 300-324, here pp. 314-315.
118
These gods were not necessarily angry, neither did they have to be appeased because a human had previously committed a sin. Bilchsel and Herrmann, "Hileos, hilaskomai, hilasmos, hilasterion," here pp. 314-315.
119
Lev 23:27.28.
12
For the exceptions, see BO.chsel and Herrmann, "Hileos, hilaskomai, hilasmos, hilasterion," here p. 315.
121
Bilchsel and Herrmann, "Hileos, hilaskomai, hilasmos, hilasterion," here pp. 316317.
ll
122
Btichsel and Herrmann, "Hileos, hilaskomai, hilasmos, hilasterion."

See K.H. Rengstorf (ed.), A Complete Concordance to Flavius Josephus (Leiden,
1968-1983), vol. 2, pp. 123 aad 382.
124
Kraus, Der Tod Jesu als Hei/igtumsweihe, pp. 21-32, has the most extensive
linguistic analysis of iAao-ci)p1ov. Now also Daniel P. Bailey, "Jesus as the Mercy Seat:
The Semantics and Theology of Paul's Use of Hilasterion in Romans 3:25," (Ph.D. dissertation; University of Cambridge, 1999) (non vidi); dissertation summary: "Jesus as the
Mercy Seat: The Semantics and Theology of Paul's Use ofHilasterion in Romans 3:25,"
Tyndale Bulletin 51 (2000) 155-158. I would like to thank Daniel Bailey for kindly
providing me with a copy of his handout for the lecture "Greek Heroes Who Happen to
Be Jewish: The Meaning ofi.Aaoti)pwv in 4 Maccabees 17:22" he gave at the SBL 2002.
J:n See especially Exod 25:17-22; 38:5-8 LXX.
126
For a discussion of the non-Torah passages, see pp. 198-200, below.
123
106
what stands behind ta.m:tv00aa.ts 127 and KaK00asu: 128 - fasting, mourning,
sackcloth and ashes, active asceticism? They could have written VTJattilaan:, but chose the more literal equivalent.
Finally, the Septuagint introduces a distinction between the cloud in
which God will show himself (ve<peATJ) and the smoke cloud of the incense
sacrifice (litJ.d.c;), where the Masoretic Text twice uses 1Jl1. 129 In Exodus
vscpSA.TJ refers to the divine cloud; !lq.li.c; usually signifies the smoke of frre
or of burned incense. 130 Thus according to the Septuagint God dwells in
the divine cloud hovering on the l.Aaati)pwv, and the smoke cloud of the
incense sacrifice hides the divine appearance, whereas the Masoretic Text
can also be understood in the sense that God dwells in the smoke cloud of
the incense sacrifice. Consequently, the Septuagint translation agrees more
closely with the Sadducee-Boethusian option to begin the incense sacrifice
outside the sanctuary. 131
In sum, the Septuagint makes the biblical ritual intelligible to the Greek
reader, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. Almost all the terms are part of Greek
religious tradition and therefore perfectly comprehensible to outsiders. The
purification of the sanctuary and the scapegoat ritual were most probably
conceived of as analogous te various non-Jewish rituals reflected by the
Greek religious terms UnonOJ.lnaio~ and UnonoJ.lntl. However, the syntax,
especially the syntax of the prepositions attached to i~tA.O.o:tcoJ.lat, must
have seemed odd to the Greek reader and, consequently, also the theological conception of atonement as a divine act of expiation. A first step
toward spiritualization may lie in the translation of the terminus technicus
nil!JJ as the abstract adjective iA.acrnlpwv instead of a transliteration.
Finally, what is absent is also notable. There is neither a demythologization of the scapegoat (as in Philo or in the Mishuab), for whom vocabulary from the Greek world of chthonic gods is used, nor a significant
embedding of diaspora ritual (fasting, praying), as in the Targumim.
Lev 16:29; 23:27.29.32.

Num 29:7.
129
Lev 16:2-3.
130 Lev 16:13; Sir24:15; Ezek8:ll.
131
See above pp. 30. On the understanding of Leviticus and on the rabbinic
controversy, see Milgram, Leviticus 1-16, pp. 1014-1015 and 1028-1031; the classic
article by Lauterbach, "A Significant Controversy between the Sadducees and the Pharisees"; and the more recent literature listed in Tabory, Jewish Festivals in the Time of
the Mishnah and Talmud, pp. 264-267.
121
128
107
2.2 Philo's Allegorization of Yom Kippur

I will begin by analyzing the two detailed descriptions of the Yom Kippur
ritual 132 that are clearly written from a diaspora perspective, focusing on
the ritual of the people. 133 I will then tum to allusions 134 that allegorize the
temple ritual and reveal the ':"Ys.tical heights of Philo's theology in the
figure of the high pnest, who IS Simultaneously a symbol of the med1atmg
Logos and of the mystic's soul, which ascends to heaven to view God. 135
2.2.1 The Rationale of the People's Yom Kippur Rituals
The two extensive descriptions of Yom Kippur are part of de specialibus

/egibus, Philo's interpretation of the laws of the Torah arranged according
to the Ten Commandments. The first description is found in the context of
the prohibition of idolatry, which occupies the whole of the first book with
an analysis of the sacrificial cult and its institutions. 136 It is remarkable that
in this context of the sacrificial cult, the way to celebrate Yom Kippur in
the diaspora clearly dominates the text. Yom Kippur is "the fast," not "the
day of propitiation" as one would have expected from the Vorlage of the
De specialibus legibus 1:186-188; 2:193-203.
How does this tally with Schwartz' thesis ("Philo's Priestly Descent") that Philo
was of priestly descent?
134 De gigantibus 52; De specialibus legihus 1:72.84.168; 2:41; De ebrietate 86; 135136; De somniis 1:215-216; 2: 189.231; Quis rerum divinarum heres sit 82-84; 112; 179;
187; legum al/egoriae 2:52.56; 3: 174; De plantatione 61; De posteritate Caini 48; 70-72;
Legatio ad Gaium 306-307; De vita Mosis 2:23-24; De congressu eruditionis gratia 89;
107-108; De deca/ogo 159.
135 On Yom Kippur in Philo, see J. Leonhardt, Jewish Worship in Philo of Alexandria
(Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 84, Ttibingen: Mohr-Siebeck 2001), pp. 43-45,
127-135, 224-228, 230--233, 278-282; G. Deiana, "Il Giomo del KippUr in Filone di
Alessandria," in: F. Vattioni (ed.), Sangue e antropologia. Riti e culto. Atti della V Settimana Roma, 26 novembre- I dicembre 1984 (Sangue e antropologia. 5/2; Rome, 1987;
pp. 891-905); Scullion, "A Traditio-Historical Study of the Day of Atonement," 152186; J. Laporte, "Sacrifice and Forgiveness in Philo of Alexandria," Studia Philonica
Annual 1 (1989) 34-42, here pp. 36-38. Young, "The Impact of the Jewish Day of
Atonement upon the Thought of the New Testament," 114-126; Baer, "The Service of
Sacrifice in Second Temple Times," passim; H. Wenschkewitz, Die Spiritualisierung der
Kultusbegriffe. Tempel, Priester und Opfer im Neuen Testament (Angelos - Archiv fur
neutestamentliche Zeitgeschichte und Kulturkunde 4; Leipzig, 1932), pp. 67-76;
0. Schmitz, Die Opferanschauung des spiiten Judentums und die Opferaussagen des
Neuen Testaments (TObingen, 1910), pp. 148-152.
IJ6 This part includes a short description of the temple (De specialibus /egibus 1:6678), two very detailed analyses of the priesthood (79-161) and the sacrifices (162-256),
and a section about the sacrificers (257-298). The part about sacrifices deals with the
animals (162-167), the festivals (168-193)- among them Yom Kippur (186-188)- and
the different types of sacrifices (194-256).
132
133
Septuagint. 137 The central features of the temple ritual, the high priest, the
holy of holies and the blood sprinkling rites are completely absent from
this description. The high priest's absence is especially noteworthy, since
he is so central to Philo's theology ns Philo preferred to emphasize other
actors, the less or non-religious people, 139 who were apparently more important in Philo's diaspora community than was the high priest in distant
Jerusalem. Even the repentance of those "juifs d'un jour," 140 is equal to
sinlessness, 141 the quality characterizing the high priest. 'EyKpO.teta, O:pet~,
and J.u=.:-r0.v01.a evoke divine forgiveness and come before the selective references to certain sacrifices, mainly the additional sacrifices from Numbers
and the two goats. Concerning these sacrifices, the numbers one and seven
(from the one raro, one bull and seven lambs sacrificed) are allegorized
and connected to the beginning and end of creation. Tbis may be one of
those rare eschatological expressions in Philo, reminiscent of the cosmogonic eschatological interpretation of Yom Kippur in apocalyptic texts of
the Second Temple period, that tell about the beginning and end of sin.
Moreover, an inner process, repentance, is the decisive factor in the (outward) scapegoat ritual. The goat bears the curses of "those who changed
for the better," 142 not thosel.who did not show repentance.
Philo's second description of Yom Kippur appears under his exposition
of the commandment to honor the holidays. 143 Yom Kippur is the ninth of
ten holidays discussed. 144 All festivals are presented in their diaspora fonn.
Consequently, blood, sacrifice, incense, the temple and the Aaronic priesthood play no role in this kind of Yom Kippur. Abstinence and prayer are
its principal features. Yom Kippur is a window on the life of the wise man
who displays eyKpate>a every day (193-195). Jnterropting material intake
enhances the flow of spiritual nourishment (200-202). Moreover, such an
interruption reminds us of its potential lack and thereby reinforces gratitude for its availability (203).
108
137 Nqou:ia reflects Philo's common usage. Sometimes he employs iAaof.16o;. Unlike in
the Septuagint the word "group," (il;)il.6:oJCof.1t, appears rarely and most of the passages
speak of humans propitiating God instead of a divinely instigated purification. Consequently we would have to translate "day of propitiation."
133 See below, pp. 109-112.
139 Philo names them oi. Ket"td "t0v iiHov ~iov &Ua.yi:o; oOOSv Spii"tetl (De specialibus legibus
1:186).
140 See the note to this passage in Suzanne Daniel, De specialibus legibus I et II (Les
ffiuvres de Philon d'Alexandrie 24; Paris, 1975).
' 41 Sins, however, leave scars on the soul.
142 Cf. Deiana, "II Giomo del KippUr in Filone di Alessandria," p. 894.
141
De specialibus legibus 2:39-222.
144 De specialibus legibus 2:193-203. The ten festivals are every day (t) (42-55),
Sabbath (56-70), New Moon (140--144), Passover (145-149), Mazzot (150--161), Orner
(162-175), Shavuot (176-187), Rosh Hashanah (188-192) and Succot (204-213).
109
2.2.2 The Allegorizations of Yom Kippur's Temple Ritual

The most interesting passages on Yom Kippur are to be found among the
more than twenty allusions to its institutions, foremost among them being
the high priest. 145 We may distinguish two levels of allegorization: a
macrocosmic, cosmological level and a microcosmic, psychological Ievell" On a cosmological level, Philo interprets the temple as world and
the high priest as divine logos. 147 On a psychological level, he compares
the high priest to the man of truth (6 np"'; aA.l]Betav iivOpron"') and the
temple to the rational soul (A.oytK~ 'l'uxl]).
For there are, as is evident, two temples of God: one of them this universe, in
whom there is also as High Priest His First-hom, the divine Word, and the other
the rational soul, whose Priest is the real man; the outward and visible image of
whom is he who offers the prayers and sacrifices handed down from our fathers, to
whom it has been committed to wear the aforesaid tunic, which is a copy and
replica of the whole heaven, the intention of this being that the universe may join
with man in the holy rites and man with the universe. 143
Philo concentrates on the mediatory aspect of the high priest as an ambassador between God and humans. 149 Free from physical disabilities, he is
also free from pathos, the origin of sins. In an idealized form, he is
sinless. 150 Perhaps because of this exceptional purity, only the high priest
cao bear the view of the holy of holies 151 These ideal qualities may have
triggered the identification of the high priest with the heavenly logos. Conversely, the human being who has these ideal qualities also becomes a high
priest. This turns the wise men, fulfillers of the Torab, into high priests.
Wenschkewitz described this as an oscillating movement between idealization of the priests and spiritualization of the priesthood 152 This highly
145
For literature on Philo's spiritualization of the temple and its cult, see note 135,
above. See also V. Nikiprowetzky, ..La spiritualisation des sacrifices et le culte sacrificiel
au Temple de Jerusalem chez Philon d'Alexandrie," Semitica 17 (1967) 97-116.
146
See J. Laporte, "The High Priest in Philo of Alexandria," Studia Philonica Annua/3
(Earle Hilgert Festschrift) (1991) 71-82.
147
De vita Mosis 2:95-135.
148
De somniis I :215; trans!. F.C.L. Colson in LCL, Philo 5:413.
149
Cf. the pagan writer Hecateus in his Aegyptica quoted by Diodorus Siculus 40:3:56, who describes the Jewish high priest as a messenger (tinel.ov) of God's commandments to the people: see Stem, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, vol. 1,
number 11, pp. 28 and 31-32.
150
151
De ebrietate 136.
152
Wenschkewitz, Die Spiritualisierung der Kultusbegriffe, p. 76.
110
important mystical interpretation is the subject of the paragraphs that

follow:
man. "For when the high priest enters the Holy of Holies he shall not be a man"
(Lev. xvi. 17). Who then, if he is not a man? A God? I will not say so, for this
name is a prerogative, assigned to the chief prophet, Moses, while he was still in
Egypt, where he is entitled the God of Pharaoh (Ex. vii. 1). Yet not a man either,
but one contiguous with both extremes, which form, as it were, one his head, the
other his feet. 161
HIGH-PRIESTLY VISIONS OF GOD I!: PHIL0: 153 Philo is the first to refer explicitly to Yom Kippur and quote Leviticus 16 in order to depict the mystical ascent of the soul to God in his heavenly abode. Almost every passage
concerning the high priest or the holy of holies mentions his entry, often as
an encounter of the wise man's soul with the divine; 154 this may have the
character of a vision 155 or even of a meeting with the divine. 156
Such an encounter includes a transformational element. Those who
enter the holy of holies abandon their human nature and become godlike.157 This transformation is based on a text variant in Leviticus 16:17, it
recurs with slight variations in all three citations of this verse in Philo.
Dropping ana<;. Philo states "when the priest enters into the holy of holies,
he will not be a man until he leaves," instead of the regular text of the
Septuagint "when the priest enters into the holy of holies, there will not be
any (other) man, until the priest leaves." All three instances lead Philo to a
deification of the high priest or the wise and perfect man. 158 No extant
Septuagint manuscript knewn to me has this reading, but we find it in
Origen and most interestingly in Leviticus Rabbah. 159
But indeed so vast in its excess is the stability of the Deity that He imparts to chosen natures a share of His steadfastness to be their richest possession .... See what
is said of wise Abraham, how he was "standing in front of God (Gen. xviii. 22),
for when should we expect a mind to stand and no longer sway as on the balance
save when it is opposite God, seeing and being seen .... [HeJ wishes to indicate
that the mind of the Sage, released from storms and wars, with calm, still weather
and profound peace around it, is superior to men, but less than God .... The good
man indeed is on the border-line, so that we may say, quite properly, that he is
neither God nor man, but bounded at either end by the two, by mortality because
of his manhood, by incorruption because of his virtue. Similar to this is the oracle
given about the high priest: "When he enters," it says, "into the Holy of Holies, he
will not be a man until he comes out" (Lev xvi. 17). And if he then becomes no
roan, clearly neither is he God, but God's minister, through the mortal in him in
affmity with creation, through the immortal with the uncreated, and he retains this
midway place until he comes out again to the realm of body and flesh. That it
should be so is true to nature. When the mind is mastered by the love of the divine,
when it strains its powers to reach the inmost shrine, when it puts forth every effort and ardour on its forward march, under the divine impelling force it forgets all
else, forgets itself, and fixes its thoughts and memories on Him alone Whose attendant and servant it is, to whom it dedicates not a palpable offering, but incense,
the incense of consecrated virtues. But when the inspiration is stayed, and the
strong yearning abates, it hastens back from the divine and becomes a man and
meets the human interests which lay waiting in the vestibule ready to seize upon it,
should it but shew its face for a moment from within. 162
Again, according to Moses, the priest when he goes into the Holy of Holies "will
not be a man until he comes out" (Lev. xvi. 17); no man, that is, in the movements
of his soul though in the bodily sense he is still a man. For when then mind is
ministering to God in purity, it is not human but divine. But when it ministers to
aught that is human, it turns its course and descending from heaven, or rather falling to earth, comes forth, even though his body still remains within. 160
When he [the high priest] is in line with others he is one of a few, but when he
stands alone he is a "many," a whole judgment-court, a whole senate, a whole
people, a whole multitude, a whole human race, or rather, to tell the real truth, a
being whose nature is midway between [man and] God, less than God, superior to
m See C.R. Holladay, 'Theios Aner' in Hellenistic-Judaism: a Critique of the Use of
this Category in New Testament Christology (Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation
Series 40; Missoula, 1977), here pp. 170-173; E.R. Goodenough, "Literal Mystery in
Hellenistic Judaism," in: P. Casey, S. Lake, A.K. Lake (eds.), Quantulacumque: Studies
Presented to K. Lake by Pupils, Colleagues and Friends (London, 1937; pp. 227-241).
154 De gigantibus 52; De specialibus legibus 1:72; De ebrietate 135-136; Quis rerum
divinarum heres sit 84.
15
5 De specialibus legibus 1:72; De ebrietate 136.
156
Quis rerum dtvinarum heres sit 84.
157
Quis rerum divinarum heres sit 84, De somniis 2:189.231.
58
1
See especially De somniis 2:230--231.
15
9 Seep. 125, note 243, below.
160
Quis rerum divinarum heres sit 84; transl. F.C.L. Colson in LCL Philo 4:325.
Ill
Yom Kippur becomes the mystical experience of the wise who have
reached the high-priestly state of O:mi9Eta. The sentence "when it ministers
to aught that is human, it turns its course and descending from heaven, or
rather falling to earth, comes forth, even though his body still remains
within" 163 demonstrates that Philo is speaking of a heavenly ascent of the
soul. Just as ascent is the entry into the holy of holies, so is descent the
return to the vestibule. 164
The spiritual process of turning away from the world and focusing on
God is compared to the changing of clothes by the high priest.
161
162
163
164
De somniis 2:188-189; transl. F.C.L. Colson in LCL Philo 5:529.

De somniis 2:223-233; transl. F.C.L. Colson in LCL Philo 5:547-549.
Quis rerum divinarum heres sit 84.
De somniis 2:233.
112

The soul that loves God, having disrobed itself of the body and the objects dear to
~e body and fled_ abroad far '!fay from these, gains a fixed and assured settlement
m the perfec~ or?m~ces of vrrtue .... This is why the high priest shall not enter the
!foly of l!ohes 1? his robe (Lev. xvi. 1 ff), but laying aside the garment of opinto?s and tmpress10ns of the soul, and leaving it behind for those that Jove outward
thmgs and value semblance above reality, shall enter naked with no coloured borders or sound of bells, to pour as a libation the blood of the soul and to offer as incense the whole mind to God our Saviour and Benefactor. 16.5
The temple ritual is turned upside down: The priest leaves his clothes and
enters naked instead of changing his clothes, the blood is not spriokled but
poured, and the blood rite is performed before the incense rite and not after
it. Rather than ignoraoce - Philo seems to be well informed about the
166
temple service _ and may even have been a priest 167 - this transformation
of the temple ntual demonstrates that Philo does not derive his mysticism
from the Imagery of :om Kippur. He merely uses the high-priestly entrance- a well-known 1mage- to illustrate his ideas.
Despite certain p~allels, i.t is unlikely that Philo adopted this imaginaz~e from apocalypttc1sm. Frrst, he is quite anti-eschatological. Second,
while there are some parall~ls between Philo's interpretation of y om Kippur and the apocalyptic imaginaire of the Day of Atonement, 168 the differences ~n the ~gery are significant: e.g. heaven is not surrounded by a
fiery n~er, nor IS the~e ~fiery throne. The mystic is not accompanied by
protectmg angels. Philo IS closer to Platonic idealism thao to apocalyptic
mythology.
ALLEGORIZATIONS OF THE SACRIFICIAL RITES: Of the sacrificial rites of
Yom Kippur, only the incense sacrifice 169 and the scapegoat 170 play a role
Legum a//egoriae ~:50-:-56; n:ansL F.C.L. Colson in LCL Philo I. This passage has
been n~glected by prevtous mvesttgators. It is the only allegorization of Yom Kippur's
bl?od ~tes known to me. However, it does not greatly change the general picture of Philo s attttude to blood sacrifice.
165
166
_Philo _see~s
113
Philo's allegorizations. The bloodless sacrifice is superior to the

among
111
d
nkling rites, which Philo almost completely neglects. This ten ency
spn be demonstrated by the (apologetic) description of Yom Kippur in the
bassy to Gaius in which incense and a universal supplication prayer are
: . only rites in the holy of holies to be mentioned. 172
Agreeing with the Sadduceao interpretation, the high priest carries the
already-lighted incense into the holy of holies to conceal its beauty. 173 Yet
it is unlikely that he knows about the dispute between Sadduceans and
Pharisees. Philo does not attribute the divine presence to the matenal_ mcense, and his exegesis can be explained as being based on the Septuagmt's
., and aq..1.tc;.
. . 174
distinction between vecpe~~.TJ
.
The lots of the scapegoat and the sacrificial goat are interpreted as bemg
images of two kinds of humaos. The lot of the scapegoat stands for the
people who are no_t free of pathos;_ t~e lot oft~~ sac~ficial goat, for to;ers
of God who inhent the lot of Levi, 1.e. the sptntualtzed and democratized
priesthood. 175 On the cosmological level, he connects the scapegoat with
the creation and the sacrificial goat with God. 176
The sending out of the scapegoat becomes a metaphor for the inner fight
against the passions, the motto of~e wis~ man:s fight. The s~urce of evil
is in the hearts of men, but confessmg their passwns helps bamsh them:
c;n
For "to make atonement over'' (El;t?..Cmao9a.t) them [madnesses and infirmities,
which are to be send away {'tit 0:n;07t01lxata. voaft~am Kai Cr.pp(I.)Oti)~aa)] is to confess (O~oAoyqoc:n) that although we have them living and persisting in our soul, we
do not give in, but fight energetically and persistently, until we shall have send
them away (literally: ''to Zeus") ( O:n:oOtOnOJ.lltTI000J.1eB) completely .171
The lifestyle of the wise, the practice of tyKpclteta and imcl9eta are of primary importance for Philo. One could even say that Yom Kippur is like an
"open day" providing a glimpse of this life. One should live one's whole
life without passion, humbling the soul - as one does on Yom Kippur, and
as the wise person does all his life. 178
t~ have ~alakhic knowledge of the temple rites in the following cases:
~e htgh pnest hghtmg the mcense before entering the holy of holies (De specialibus leglh~ 1:72; bu~ cf. De e_brietate 135-13~); the prayer of the high priest in the holy of
hohes (Legallo ad Galum 306); the existence of a third ram (De specia/ibus tegibus
I: 188); the throwing down of the scapegoat (De plantatione 61 ).
167
See Schwartz, "Philo's Priestly Descent."
Philo h~ at least ~ee int~rpretations in common with the apocalyptic imaginaire:

the mterpretation of the htgh-pnestly entry as transformation and mystical encounter with
~~d; the two ~ots as :wo opposed ~lasses of people; and the fall of the scapegoat
. . Incens~ ts men~oned a few times: De specia/ibus legibus 1:72.84; legum allegoriae
2.56, Legatw ad Gatum 306-307; De somniis 2:232.
170
The scapegoat rite is mentioned four times: Quis rerum divinarum heres sit 179187; legum allegoriae 2:52; De plantatione 61; De posteritate Caini 70-72.
168
171
De ebrietate 87.
in the inmost part of the temple in the special sanctuary itself, into which the
Grand Priest enters once a year only on the Fast as it is called to offer incense and to pray
according to ancestral practice for a full supply of blessings and prosperity and peace for
all mankind": Legatio ad Gaium 306; transl. F.C.L. Colson in LCL Philo 10:155.
173
174
See p. 106, above.
175
Legum allegoriae 2:52, cf. Quis rerum dtvinarum heres sit 179-187.
176
De plantatione 61.
177
De posteritate Caini 70-72, my translation.
178
De specia/ibus legibus 2:195.
72
1
"
Atonement is not an important factor in Philo's theology. Atonement by

sacrifice is usually spiritualized. The confession atones, 179 as do repentance, 180 affliction 181 and prayer. 182 He prefers to look to the future instead
of the past and regards repentance more highly than atonement.
Philo betrays knowledge of the tradition describing the fall of the
scapegoat. 183 His source may perhaps be an early liturgical reenactment of
the Yom Kippur ritual. Another possible derivation is narrative sources
close to the apocalyptic traditions previously discussed.
2.3 The Vicarious Atoning Death in 4Maccabees 17 and the Imaginaire of

Yom Kippur
The book of 4Maccabees ends its story of the martyrdom of the seven sons
and their mother with a theological interpretation of their deaths, in which
several terms recall Yom Kippur: 185
114
Conclusion
In sum, Philo presents a Yom Kippur that is in almost every respect
adapted to the religious life of the diaspora. In the detailed descriptions of
Yom Kippur, the people's service with fasting and p~aying is a central
feature. Yom Kippur's temple ritual merely serves as a prooftext and as an
illustration of Philo's mysticism and cosmological speculations. While he
clearly prefers Yom Kippur's symbolic meanings, it is amazing to note that
as a Platonist he holds on to the literal meanings and does not abolish Yom
Kippur and its institutions. 184
Philo "de-Levitizes" the high priest so that every wise man can become
a high priest, but he sets high moral and spiritual standards. Only he who
lives the life of a wise man, i.e. who lives every day free from passions
("a-pathetic"), as on Yom Kippur, can qualifY. In this state of apatheia the
man embarks on his mystical journey into the holy of holies, the transformation into a superhuman and the encounter with God. Yom Kippur is no
longer connected to a particular date but to a special state. Philo spiritualizes the office and service of the high priest and turns them into symbols of
the wise man and his son!' s ascent to God.
179 De posterilate Caini 70-72.

180 De specia/ibus /egibus 1:188.
181 Legum Allegoriae 3:174; De congressu eruditionis gratia 107: "[On Yom Kippur,
God] becomes propitious (D..eroc;), and propitious even at once without supplication (iiv&u
i.Kc-t&i.a<;), to those who afflict and belittle themselves (toi<; tamoil<; KKoOOt Ki aood:AAoucn) and are not puffed up by vaunting !ffid self-pride."
182 De vita Mosis 2:24.
183
De plantatione 61.
184 I owe this point to Martha Himmelfarb.
115
17 :20 These then, having consecrated (O.ytaaaf:v-c&<;) themselves for the sake of God,
are now honored not only with this distinction but also by the fact that through
them our enemies did not prevail against our nation, 21 and the tyrant was punished
and our land purified (Ka9apta6flvat), since they became, as it were, a ransom
( O.v-ci1UXOV) for the sin of our nation. 22 Through the blood of these righteous ones
and through their propitiating (iAaa-cT]pi.ou) death 186 the divine providence rescued
Israel, which had been shamefully treated (:npoKKoo9iv-ca). 187
God, angry because of the sins oflsrael, is placated by the atoning death of
the righteous ones. The idea of the death of a martyr as vicarious atonement appears already in 6:28-29, and several key terms (Kae.lpatov. al~a
and av<i'l'vxov) appear in both passages. The use of il.aa<l\pt<><; has long
drawn attention to exegetes of Romans 3:25. Notwithstanding that in
4Maccabees i/...am:ijpw~ is probably used attributively and has the specific
sense not of n11~:l but more generally of "propitiating," the extremely rare
word is very close to the terminus technicus and appears together with ill
and it.J.laptia. 188 Moreover, two other ideas are reminiscent of the apocalyptic imaginaire of Yom Kippur. The purification of the country motif (tl')v
xn<pioa Kn6apta6ijvat) plays an important role in the eschatological myth of
1Enoch as an interpretation of the ritual of Yom Kippur. 189 Similarly, the
ISS E.g., Klauck remarks that "Die Obernahme von Konzeptionen aus der atl.
Opfertheologie und Opfersprache liegt auf der Hand.... iAam~p1o<; in 17,22 zielt zuslitzlich auf das Ritual des jiihrlichen grol3en VersOhnungstags." See H.-J. Klauck (transl.),
4. Makkabiierbuch (JUdische Schriften aus hellenistischer und r6mischer Zeit 3:6;
Giltersloh, 1989), p. 671. Cf. E. Lohse, Miirtyrer und Gottesknecht. Untersuchungen zur
urchristlichen Verkiindigung vom Siihnetod Jesu Christi (Forschungen zur Religion und
Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments 64; GOttingen, 2 1963), p. 71.
186 If one takes the reading of the Sinaiticus (with the article), the translation is:
''through the propitiation of their death," see Lohse, Miirtyrer und Gottesknecht, p. 71.
117 4Maccabees 17:20-22 in the translation of H. Anderson, "4 Maccabees," in: J.H.
Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2 (New York, 1985; pp. 531564).
183
If we follow the reading of the Sinaiticus (with the article before iAaa-c~ptou) and
translate "through the propitiation of their death" and i.Aaa-c~pto<; has the more general
meaning, the terminus technicus must have jumped into the head of every reader
acquainted with the Torah.
189 1Enoch 10:20; Milik also reconstructed the purification of the land motif for
another text connected to Yom Kippur, IQ22Words of Moses iv: 1, see Discoveries in the
Jorda~ian Desert I {1955) 95-96.
116
victory over the evil Lord recalls the victory of the eschatological high
priest over the forces of evil, which appears in 1Enoch I 0, 11 QMelchizedek and Hebrews 2:14-15. More tentatively, the term npoKmcco9:vta
for the mistreatment of the people recalls terminology for the afflictions of
Yom Kippur, which can be tcaKOro as well as 'tamavOro.
In sum, the combination of three terms from Leviticus 16 and two con~
ceptions connected to Yom Kippur makes it very likely that the author
wished to allude to the Day of Atonement. 190
Recent scholarship rejects the earlier dating of 4Maccabees to the first
century BCE and favors a date after the destruction of the temple, in the
second century CE or even later. 191 This new dating removes one of the
most important texts from the hands of those scholars who used this passage to explain Romans 3:25 against the background of Jewish martyr
theology. Both passages seem to be independent solutions for the same
question: what significance does the death of innocent people have for
their religious conviction? Both use sacrificial imagery to explain the
vicarious atoning effect achieved by divine providence.
Excursus: The Scapegoat as,Background for Vicarious Atoning Suffering
in Isaiah and Josephus?
Was Yom Kippur's sacrificial terminology used to express vicarious atoning suffering in
two other, non-Christian texts? Some scholars have suggested that the image of the suffering servant of God in Isaiah 53, which draws on some kind of sacrifice, 192 is based on
190
Contra Bailey, "Greek Heroes Who Happen to Be Jewish."

Jan Willem van Henten in an oral discussion in Jerusalem of his paper, "Martyrdom
and Persecution Revisited: The Case of 4 Maccabees," in: W. Ameling (ed.), Mtirtyrer
und Miirtyrerakten (Altertumswissenschaftliches Kolloquium 6; Stuttgart, 2002; pp. 5975).
192
See e.g. J. Scharbert, "Stellvertretendes Siihneleiden in den Ebed-Jahwe-Liedem
und in altorientalischen Ritualtexten," Biblische Zeitschrift {NF] 2 (1958) 190-213; and
the list of other scholars in B. Janowski, ''Er trug unsere Silnden. Jesaja 53 und die Dramatik der Stellvertretung," Zeitschrift for Theologie und Kirche 90 (1993) 1-24, here
p. 20. Janowski proposes a non-sacrificial background of the servant. On Isa 53 in general in early Judaism and early Christianity, see e.g. the papers in B. Janowski and P. Stohlmacher (eds.), Der /eidende Gottesknecht. Jesaja 53 und seine Wirkungsgeschichte mit
einer Bibliographie zu Jes 53 (Forschungen zum Alten Testament 14; Ttibingen, 1996)in particular M. Hengel, "Zur Wirkungsgeschichte von Jes 53 in vorchristlicher Zeit,"
pp. 49-91; P. Stuhlmacher, "Jes 53 in den Evangelien und in der Apostelgeschichte,"
pp. 93-105; 0. Hofius, "Das vierte Gottesknechtslied in den Briefen des Neuen Testamentes," pp. 107-127; and J. Adna, "Der Gottesknecht als triumphierender und interzessorischer Messias. Die Rezeption von Jes 53 im Targum Jonathan untersucht mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung des Messiasbildes," pp. 129-158.
191
117
the scapegoat. 193 Even if this allusion seems far-fetched, it makes a strict distinction be. tween either sacrifice, noble-death or the suffering servant in explanations for the background to the vicarious atonement of Jesus difficult and subject to personal theological
-preferences. 194
A passage in Josephus Bellum judaicum, proposed by Michel and Bauernfeind,
_ -seems more convincing. 195 The high priest Ananus states: If I was alone and, as it were,
. in the desert, I would offer my life for God."' 196 This might allude to the scapegoat, who
dies alone in the desert. Such an interpretation is supported by two further observations
. in the context. Directly before this episode, Josephus relates that lots are cast for the of-fjce of the high priest 197 - as for the two goats on Yom Kippur. Since such a custom for
die election of high priests is unknown, the theological background seems noteworthy.
Furthermore, Ananus is tortured and bears the pain silently as Isaiah's servant of God. 198
This passage is one of the few texts using the scapegoat as positive image. 199
Conclusion: Yom Kippur in the Greek Diaspora

The Septuagint of Leviticus translates the Jewish terminology of Yom
Kippur into pagan religious language; the demonology connected to the
scapegoat is equated with pagan terminology of sacrifices to chthonic
. gods. Until then, no spiritualizing tendency is evident and the ritual of the
diaspora has not yet surfaced in the Greek version of Leviticus 16. The
focus on the temple ritual remains unchanged, the Septuagint of Isaiah providing the first evidence for a shift from the temple to the local communities by calling the day "the fast."
193 See J.D.W. Watts, Isaiah 34-66 (Word Biblical Commentary 25; Waco [Tex.],
1987), p. 231; J.N. Oswalt, The Book ofIsaiah. Chapters 40--66 (New International Commentary to the New Testament; Grand Rapids [Mich.] and Cambridge [UK], 1998),
p. 377. Isaiah compares the servant to a lamb (j}IU) led to the slaughter (53 :7). The servant
bears the sicknesses and afflictions vicariously for the community in language
reminiscent of the descriptions of the scapegoat carrying the sins of the community. The
terminology for sins :l71U~ (53:5.8.12), 1H7 (53:6.11), ClZ7K (53: 10) and Ktm (53: 12) is similar
to the three terms of Lev 16 (YIU~ ,11Y ,Kun). Like the scapegoat, the servant is tortured
b~fore his death. The formulation D"n f1Kll 1Tll (lsa 53:8) recalls i11Tl f1K (Lev 16:22).
See e.g. D.R. Schwartz, "Two Pauline Allusions to the Redemptive Mechanism of the
Crucifixion," Journal of Biblical Literature 102 (1983) 259-283. Yet sacrificial concepts
cannot explain everything, since other terminology in Isa 53 comes from a rather nonCU.ltic medical background. Is the ritual of the people perhaps alluded to by the mention
of:JJ!i (Isa 53:7)? Did the Septuagint reinforce this allusion by the use of Ke:KaKcOOeat and
't1t&lw00e:t in two successive verses (Isa 53:7-8)?
!94 On Isa 53, see the discussions ofGal3:13; John 1:29; I Pet 2:22-24 below.
1
% 0. Michel and 0. Bauernfeind (eds., transls.), Josephus, Flavius, De bello Judaico.
1!er jiidUche Krieg. GriechUch und deutsch. Hrsg. und mit einer Einleitung sowie mit
-Anmerkungen. (3 vols; Munich and Darmstadt, 1962-1969) ..
Bel/umjudaicum 4:164.
See the passage on Ravya bar Qisi discussed on p. 130, below.
118
T
!
119
scriptions? What is the position of Christian Judaism? In a few instances,
Philo focuses on the diaspora way of celebrating Yom Kippur, allegorizing the temple ritual to higher truths and spiritualizing priestly concepts
to the ascetic life of the wise. He is the first to use the high-priestly entrance of Leviticus 16 explicitly to describe the mystical ascent of the wise
man's soul to God. His theology strongly influenced later Alexandrinians
such as Clement and Origen. Philo's concept of Yom Kippur as an "open
day" to the wise man's lifestyle will be adopted by Christians such as Origen.
Finally, 4Maccabees 17 and probably Josephus draw on the imaginaire
of Yom Kippur to explain the rationale of vicarious suffering. Josephus
might even be a rare example of a Jewish (non-Christian) text comparing
extra-rabbinical data confirm minority opinions or deviant opinions in the

rabbinic sources,20 I but often no such deviant opinion is extant. 202
Furthermore, the original Sitz im Leben of each rabbinic source is not
clear. Did it serve a certain commnnity as a law codex or as a textbook for

teaching purposes, or was it simply a collection of statements? 203 The
Mishnah received canonical status with its redaction around 200 CE - in
certain circles of Palestine and in some Babylonian academies. The development from rabbinic Judaism to normative Judaism was a long process.
We cannot simply presuppose that the ritual and thought in the communities of the Western diaspora in Mediterranean lands, or even in Palestine
and Babylonia, followed the rulings of the sages of the Mishnah, or the
Palestinian or Babylonian Talmud. We have to bear these unresolved
methodological questions in mind during the brief analysis of rabbinical
thought on Yom Kippur.
I shall begin this outline of some general aspects of the rabbinical
imaginaire of Yom Kippur with mythological events linked to Yom Kip-
the scapegoat to a positive figure.
3. The Christian Jewishlmaginaire of Yom Kippur

Many of the texts discussed in parts 2 and 3 in fact belong here. Among
them are Barnabas and Hebrews (despite their fierce anti-Jewish stance)
and Romans (and their sources), !John, Matthew, Galatians and perhaps
the Christological songs of Colossians and Philippians. The texts ofValentinian Christianity that are based on lost Jewish apocalyptic sources -
pur, to give an impression of the general theological ideas connected to the
festivaL I shall then go on to analyze some part of the conceptions of the

temple ritnal, especially the high priest, the goats and the red ribbon. Finally, I shall turn to some general theological concepts of the people's ritual that received special attention in the rabbinic sources, primarily
repentance.
which were a bridge between the descriptions of ascent visions in apoca-
lyptic and Hekhalot texts- also belong into this discussion.
Ideally, each rabbinic tract should be allocated its own section. Such a
detailed investigation of the concepts of Yom Kippur, the high priest, the
4. Aspects of the Rabbinic Imaginaire of Yom Kippur
scapegoat, the sacrifices, the high-priestly entrances, the afflictions, the

synagogue service, etc., for each of the rabbinic tracts would be an inter-
Any investigation of Judaism in late antiquity (i.e. from the second to the
fifth centuries) has to contend with a methodological dilemma: on the one
esting undertaking, but it goes far beyond the scope of this work. I have
tried to avoid a monolithic presentation by referring to the collection (e.g.
hand, the rabbinic sources are almost the only extant textual evidence; on
the other hand, they frequently do not match the picture that emerges from
archaeological data, such as the findings of Dura Europos.200 How broad is
the prism of Judaism represented in the rabbinic sources; i.e. how many
different opinions and styles of life found their way into the rabbinic collections, and how many did not? To what extent are texts like the later
parts of the Jewish Sibyllines, 4Maccabees and Pseudo-Philo On Jonah
evidence of alternative traditions not contained in the rabbinic corpus?
How can we evaluate non-Jewish sources that do not fit the rabbinic data
for our reconstruction? How can we evaluate the credibility of their de200
Cf. G. Sternberger, Einleitung in Talmud undMidrasch (Munich, 8 1992), pp. 55-65.
I
!
201
This might be the case with Church Fathers, who polemicized against the sad
character of the Jewish fast.
202 Judith Lieu has employed the portrayal of Trypho, the Jew, in Justin Martyr's
Dialogue with Trypho for reconstructing the Judaism of Asia Minor in the second century. Leaving one hermeneutical circle she entered another. On the one hand she rebels
against using only or even primarily rabbinical sources for reconstructing the late antique
Judaism of Asia Minor. On the other hand her approach involves the methodological
danger of giving up the only extant criterion for a countercheck, since in the realm of
concepts and prayers, archaeological evidence can only rarely help, and then only up.der
fortunate circumstances. See J. Lieu, Image and Reality. The Jews in the World of the
Christians in the Second Century (Edinburgh, 1996), pp. 103-154.
203
See G. Sternberger, Einleitung in Talmud und Midrasch, pp. 140-143, regarding the
different opinions about the Sitz im Leben of the Mishnah.
120
Jmaginaires of Yom Kippur
Mishnah, Babylonian Talmud) with which, and in some instances to the
only festival that will be observed in the coming world 210 While Jubilees
describes Yom Kippur as a festival of sadness and Philo's Yom Kippur
vacillates between aftliction and festival, the rabbinic sources tend more to
the festival side. Yet the aspect of sadness surfaces here and there in the
rabbinic sources and might have been the custom in some communities. 211
rabbi with whom, a certain statement is associated. Regarding the unre~
solved questions of the pseudepigraphy in the attribution of certain sayings

to certain sages, of redaction and of form history, and in view of the uncertainties caused by the lack of critical editions for most of the material, r
have refrained from advancing more concrete theses on the history.204 This
is a task for future investigators.
Despite his conservative approach; Joseph Tabory's survey on Yom
Kipplir in the rabbinic period is a helpful collection of statements and

scholarship. 205 On the conceptual background of the sacrifices, Yitzbak
Baer and Naftali Goldstein have done some promising pioneering work 2116
Yet most aspects of the rabbinic theology of the temple ritual still await
critical investigation, principally on the perceptions of the role and figure
of the high priest. The most interesting works on the rabbinic Yom Kippur
liturgy are still the general models of the development of the ritual from
the temple to the synagogue by Elbogen and Heinemann. 207
In popular opinion, Yom Kippur was the most important festivaJ.208
When Yom Kippur fell on a Sabbath it was awarded a special sanctity, and
the gravest sins were those eommitted on this day. 209 The special character
of Yom Kippur is demonstrated also by the fact that it is described as the

W4 Even the most basic methods are disputed among the main approaches. I follow the
general lines pointed out by Sternberger in his Einleitung in Talmud und Midrasch,
pp. 55-65 and 66-72, with references to further literature.
205
Tabory, Jewish Festivals in the Time of the Mishnah and Talmud, pp. 259-306;
Most of the secondary literature accepts the Mishnah and other rabbinic sources at face
value without redaction critics or form critics: Safrai, "Der VersOhnungstag in Tempel
und Synagoge"; idem, "The Service of Yom Kippur in the Second Temple" [in Hebrew]
Mahanayim 49 (1961) 122-125; idem, "On the History of the Service in the Second
Temple"; E.E. Urbach, The Sages. Their Concepts and Belieft (2 vols; Jerusalem, 1987 =
2
1979), especially pp. 42Q-436 and 462-471; K. Hruby, ..Le Yom Ha-Kippurim ou Jour
de !'Expiation," Orient Syrien 10 (1965) 41-74, 161-192, 413-442; A. BUchler, Studies
in Sin and Atonement (London, 1928).
206
Baer, "The Service of Sacrifice in Second Temple Times"; N. Goldstein, "Worship
at the Temple in Jerusalem -Rabbinic Interpretation and Influence" [in Hebrew] (Ph.)).
dissertation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1977).
207
Elbogen, Studien zur Geschichte des jii.dischen Gottesdienstes; Heinemann, Prayer
in the Period ofthe Tanna'im and theAmora'im. See also Elbogen, Der jii.dische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung.
208
But technically speaking, the Sabbath has a higher status than Yom Kippur.
Trespassing the Sabbath commandment is pwtishable by death through stoning
(mSanh 7:4), trespassing Yom Kippur by eating is pwtishable "only" by scourging
(mMak 3:2). Furthermore, Sukkot is frequently called the festival (lnn).
209
See Tabory, Jewish Festivals in the Time of the Mishnah and Talmud, pp. 297-298,
with examples.
121
4.1 Mythological Events Connected to Yom Kippur

The association of Yom Kippur with redemption and judgment
(ilQMelchizedek) continued in rabbinic thought. Yom Kippur is not only
an eschatological occasion but an annual day of divine judgment, concluding the period of repentance during the ten days of awe from Rosh Hashanah, ascribed clearly in the Babylonian Talmud to Rosh Hashanah. "All
are judged on Rosh Hashanah and their sentence is signed on Yom Kippur."212 Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah are the days when God sits on his
judgment throne. 213 In this heavenly judgment Satan is the accuser. Two
traditions exist about the power of Satan on Yom Kippur. According to the
Babylonian Talmud, Satan has power on all days but Yom Kippur. 214 According to Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 46, Yom Kippur is the only day when the
devil Sanuna'el has power over all sinners among Israel (a disappointing
experience, since Israel becomes sinless on just this day). The apocalyptic
legend of the introduction of sin by the fallen angels and their leader 'Azaz'el, Sannna'el, Shemihaza, etc. - is still (or again) told and the
names appear in connection with Yom Kippur'"' but without explicitly
dating the event to the fast.
The earliest rabbinic text to connect a mythological event to Yom Kippur may be the Mekilta Rabbi Yishmae/. 216 Moses is said to have judged
the people "after the day" (Exodus 18:13), to which the Mekilta adds "(after the day) of atonement." It is not completely clear what event fell on the
210
Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 46. This is a strange concept, since it assumes the continuity of
sin in the world to come.
211
The extra-talmudic tract Soferim 19:4 prohibits including the term "a good day" in
the prayer of Yom Kippur, since a fast cannot be "a good day." Hence, a strict separation
into sectarians and rabbis on this aspect is not possible. See the sources and the
discussion on p. 99, above.
212
bRH 16a by Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehudah states that the moment of each one's
sentence is set individuaHy.
213
bRH 32b. Cf. also the statement in Avot of Rabbi Nathan (A) 25 that it is a bad
omen to die at the beginning of Yom Kippur and a good one to die at its end.
214
bYoma 20a.
215
216
Mekilta Rabbi Yishmael Amalek 4 to Exod 18:13 (ed. Horovitz, p. 196; ed. Lauterbach, vol. 2, pp. 179).
122
123
of the golden calf223 Second, God's thirteen middot (Exodus 34:6-7),

which were revealed on this occasion, play an important role in the liturgy
of Yom Kippur and, together with Leviticus 16:21, have the power to
Day of Atonement. According to the traditional explanation,217 the events
of the biblical narrative are out of order, and the judgment happened after
Moses returned from MoWlt Sinai. 218 Yom Kippur coincided with the giv-
transform deliberate transgressions into unintended sins.224 Third, Exodus 32:11-14 and 34:1ffwere read in some Palestinian communities.225
ing of the Torah. This tradition is otherwise attested only in a (probably

late) Baraita in the Babylonian Talmud. 219 But is this the only possible
reading of the Mekilta and Exodus 18? If we interpret the Mekilta on its
The biblical account of the consecration of the First Temple can be understood as that part of the consecration which coincided with Yom Kippur. This interpretation depends on whether the week of the dedication of
the temple was celebrated before Sukkot or coincided exactly with Sukkot226 This point is discussed in Mo 'ed Qatan in the Babylonian Talmud,
which asserts that the week of dedication indeed included Yom Kippur,
own, and understand "after the day" in the context of its narrative, the pre-
vious event- the coming of Jethro and perhaps also the battle with Amalek
-happened on the day (of atonement) prior to Moses' judgment. The latter
version matches the Meki/ta, according to which the battle with Amalek is
said to have taken place during a fast (n'JYn) 220
In both cases, the exegesis of the Mekilta is strange. Exodus 19: I dates
the giving of the Torah to the third month after the exodus, i.e. before Yom
Kippur, and Jethro (Exodus 18) is supposed to have arrived earlier, i.e.
celebrated not as a fast but as a feast. 227 Like the consecration of the
temple, the ordination of the priests is also associated with Yom Kippur.
The Talmudim compare the week of the high priest's preparation with the
between Pesach and Shavuot. There must have been a special reason to deviate from the biblical chronology, either a conceptual reason or the weight
of an existing tradition connecting some part of the narrative to Yom Kip-
ordination of Aaron and his sons, and make the preparation week into one
of (re-)ordination. 228
According to the late Midrash Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer, 229 the circumcision
of Abraham, which is described as having a vicarious atoning function,
also took place on Yom Kippur. 230 Earlier sources indicate that it took
place on Passover, bringing it into line with other events, which according
pur.221 Was it the moment of judgment? Was it the fight against evil, i.e.
Amalek? Is it the association of Moses, the just judge, with collaboration
in the creation? The idea of connecting Yom Kippur to salvation from the
to Genesis Rabbah and the Talmudim occurred either in Nisan or in Tishri.

Genesis Rabbah and the Palestinian Talmud do mention the creation of the
world,231 and the Babylonian Tahnud includes the birth and death of the
forefathers, and redemption. 232 However, these sources most probably have
Rosh Hashanah in mind and not Yom Kippur. The vacillation between Ni-
ultimate evil (Amalek) seems the most suggestive and matches the
Mekilta's characterization of the battle as taking place during a fast. The
traditional interpretation is not drawn from the Mekilta alone, but rather
interprets the Me kilta in the sense of the Baraita.
A Baraita in the Babylonian Talmud reports in the name of Shim'on ben
Garnliel that the second giving of the Torah took place on Yom Kippur,
connecting the renewal of the covenant (Exodus 34) to Yom Kippur and
perceiving Yom Kippur as atonement for the sin of the go !den calf. 222
Three traditions seem linked to this association of the golden calf and the
second giving of the Torah with Yom Kippur. First, the high priest is not
allowed to serve in golden garments in order not to remind God of the sin
223 yYoma 7:3, 44b; cf. Leviticus Rabbah 21:10 (ed. Margulies, pp. 489-490). See also
the discussion on the prooftexts for individual or general confessions in yYoma 8:9, 45c.
224
yYoma 3:1, 40d; cf. bYoma 36b.
225 See above, p. 55.
226
IKgs 8; 2Chr 6-7, especially 7:8-10.
227
bMQ 9a, Cf. yMQ 1:1, 80d; Genesis Rabbah 35:3 (ed. Theodor/Albeck, p. 332),
which discusses 2Chr 7 only with regard to an eventual collision of the consecration of
the temple with Sukkot sans Yom Kippur.
228 yYoma 1:1, 38a-c; bYoma 2a-6a. See also 1. Knohl and S. Naeh, "Millu'iro veKippurim" [in Hebrew] Tarbiz 62 (1993) 17-44.
229
Unlike other early rabbinic literature, this Midrash is usually considered the work of
a single author, probably in Palestine in the eighth or ninth century CE but containing
older traditions: Sternberger, Ein/eitung in Talmud und Midrasch, pp. 321-323.
230 Gen 17:23-27; Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 28.
231
Genesis Rabbah 22:3 to Gen 4:3 (ed. Tbeodor/Albeck, p. 207). Cf. yRH 1, 56b and
bRH lOb-lib.
232
bRH lOb-lib.
217
E.g. Rashi on Exod 18:3.

Rashi suggests this order: battle with Amalek, Torah-giving (on Yom Kippur),
arrival of Jethro, Moses' judgment; instead of the biblical order: battle with Amalek,
arrival of Jethro, Moses' judgment, Torah-giving.
219
Cf. the tradition of bTa'an 30b, discussed below. The mixture of Hebrew and
Aramaic raises some suspicion about the age of the Baraita.
220
Mekilta Rabbi Yishmael Amalek 1 to Exod 17:12 (ed. Horovitz, p. 180; ed. Lauterbach, vol. 2, pp. 145).
221
Might there be a gezera shavvah to Exod 32:30? In that case the passage of the
Mekilta refers to the golden calf.
222
bTa'an 30b. Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 46 makes this into a full story.
218
1.
.'~
~''.
... /
o--;
'-:
.:
~~
san and Tishri might perhaps be a reaction to the Christian linkage of these
events to Easter.
The Aqedah is usually dated to Passover, but some sources link it with
Rosh Hashanah and the blowing of the Shofar. 233 A late kabbalistic
tradition dates the Aqedah happened to Yom Kippur 234 Earlier, the ram is
connected with the imaginaire of Yom Kippur by being depicted as hanging from the bush with a red ribbon- resembling the scapegoat. 235
In sum, various rabbinic traditions (mostly Amoraic) date great events
in the history of salvation (the circumcision of Abraham, the second giving
of the Torah and renewal of the covenant, and the consecration of the First
Temple)236 to Yom Kippur. Second Temple traditions are partially continued - for instance, the notion of Yom Kippur as a day of judgment and
redemption. 237 Is there a common denominator? The consecration of the
temple, the giving of the Torah and circumcision are three essential means
of salvation and identity for Judaism. The golden calf signifies collective
sin and repentance, both of which can be connected to judgment, whereas
Abraham's circumcision and the second giving of the Torah mark the
covenant and its renewal.
Few in number, their justice is evidenced by constant miracles. 238 In contrast, the numerous high priests after Simon, especially those of the
Herodian period, are portrayed as being stupid, corrupt and "selfish unto
death."239 The Mishnah reflects this contemptuous attitude by adding "ifhe
[the high priest] was learned" to various rituals. The apparent superiority
of rabbinic institutions over the priesthood is manifested in the heartbreaking scene of the high priest who has to swear loyalty to the court of
the elders. 240
This perception of the high priests as clerks is contradicted by those traditions in Amoraic sources comparing the (high) priests to angels241 or
their garments to those of angels. 242 According to Leviticus Rabbah, the
high priest became a superhuman figure on entering the holy of holies 243
The high-priestly entrance into the holy of holies is greatly mystified - as
in the traditions of the apocalypses, Philo, the Valentinian texts and the
Hekhalot. In the holy of holies, the high priest may encounter angelic
figures, or even God. 244 For example, Simon the Just was always accompanied by a mysterious figure, who was either an angel or God. 245 The
124
125
4.2 Rabbinic Interpretations of the Temple Ritual

This section deals with the area least researched. I will touch on only a few
points, for the sake of comparison (mainly the high-priestly entrance, the
scapegoat and the red ribbon), having to neglect others that in a full-scale
analysis of the rabbinic understanding of Yom Kippur would deserve much
more attention.
4.2.1 The High Priests
In the Tannaitic sources, the high priests are portrayed as having a history
of corruption. The high priests of the First Temple and beginnings of the
Second, who were still hereditary, are praised, especially Simon the Just.
233
See L. Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, (1 vols; Philadelphia, 1909-1938,
reprinted 1967--68), here vol. 5, p. 252, notes 246-48.
234
See Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, vol. 5, p. 252, note 248 for further
literature. Ginzberg himself writes that Pirqe Rabbi E/iezer 31 let the Aqedah happen on
Yom Kippur. But this does not appear explicitly in the text though it may be deduced:
Abraham is likened to the high priest and the heavenly voice comes from between the
two Cherubim (on the ark of the covenant), i.e. in the holy of holies.
235
Seep. 129, below. For a link between the Aqedah and Yom Kippur in Barnabas, see
p. 152, below.
236
And perhaps the battle with Amalek.
237
I did not fmd rabbinic texts according to which the selling of Joseph, the ceasing of
the manna, and the entry into the land of Israel happened on Yom Kippur.
238
yYoma 1:1, 38c; cf. also yYoma 1:4, 39a; bYoma 8b.
See especially the relativization of the praise of tYoma I :6 in yYoma 1:3, 39a and
bYoma 18a; cf. mYoma 1:3.6; tYoma 1:7.12; bYoma23a.
240 mYoma 1:5 and Talmudim to this passage; tYoma 1:8.
41
2
Already in Mal2:7.
242 yYoma 7:3, 44b; Leviticus Rabbah 21:11 (ed. Margulies, p. 492). A different tradition compares the people of Israel, who afflict their souls, to angels (Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer
46), see above, p. 35.
243 Leviticus Rabbah 21:12 (ed. Margulies, p. 493). The same tradition is found in
Philo and Origen, based on a variant reading of the Septuagint to Lev 16:17. Perhaps, the
rabbis adopted a Hellenistic Jewish exegetical tradition through the mediation of Origen
or, as Yitzhak Baer has suggested, Philo reflects an earlier rabbinic tradition (Baer, "The
Service of Sacrifice in Second Temple Times," p. 113)."Jndeed, the extant Masoretic Text
of Lev 16:17 "no man shall be in the tent" could be understood as including the high
priest, i.e. no man, and even the high priest is no longer a man. See the commentary of
Margulies. In principle, the variant reading of the Septuagint can also appear in Hebrew
or it could have read "01N 1" or "n1N J1" instead of"D1N 7J1," i.e. "and a man I and like a
man he shall not be upon entering into tent." In fact, such a reading could have been one
of the factors for the angelization of the high priest in the apocalyptic and early mystical
literature. In any case, the variant reading did not survive in extant manuscripts of the
Septuagint or the Masoretic Text (apart from the quotations in Philo and Origen).
244
The opposite opinion, that upon the high priest's entry even angels have to leave the
holy of holies, is expressed in the name of Rabbi Abbahu (yYoma 1:5, 39a; yYoma 5:3,
42c; Leviticus Rabbah 21:12 (ed. Margulies, pp. 492-493).
245
tSotah 13:8; yYoma 5:3, 42c and Leviticus Rabbah 21:12 (ed. Margulies, pp. 492493); and the slightly different tradition in bYoma 39b and bMenah 109b. Many more
239
126
Talmudim underscore the possible deadly consequences of this spiritual

encounter. 246 It is very likely this belief that lies behind the mishnaic ritual
of giving a party upon exiting from the holy of holies.247 Lauterbach attempted to explain the famous Pharisees-Sadducees dispute over whether
the incense should be kindled inside or outside the holy of holies. He suggested that the Pharisees were contesting the Sadducees' "primitive" conception of the incense as a means of protection from directly witnessing
the presence of God who resides in the holy ofholies. 248 A further possible
interpretation of the danger is the perception of the holy of holies as a
divine bridal chamber where the cherubs make love - a sight that is
prohibited to outside world. 249
What effected the atonement: the high priest himself, his words, his
deeds, or the sacred artifacts he was using, i.e. ex opere operandi, ex opere
operata or ex opere "instrumentorum"? All did; but according to traditions
about Simon the Just, it was the priest's saintly nature that had special
efficacy, and it was the corrupt nature of the last high priests before the
destruction of the temple that spoiled the ritual. 250 On the other hand,
discussions of the temple ritual tend to attribute the atonement either to
repentance and confessions or to the sacrifices, with a preference for the
former. 251 The Palestinian Talmud endows each of the high-priestly gar"hh
.
1ar sm.
" 252 For examp le,t he
ments w1t
t e power to exptate
a parttcu
253
priestly tunic (mmJ) atones for bloodshed.
Finally, the focus on the
examples from the Talmudim were collected by Lauterbach, "A Significant Controversy
between the Sadducees and the Pharisees."
246 The "heretic" practice of the Sadducees/Boethusians of kindling the incense before
entering the holy of holies is regarded as having a lethal outcome: see yYoma 1:5, 39a;
bYoma 19b.
247
mYoma 1:4.
248 The Sadducees are therefore reported to have lighted the incense before entering.
2 49 bYoma 54a. See also A. De Coninck, ..Entering God's Presence. Sacramentalism in
the Gospel of Philip," Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers 37:1 (Atlanta [Ga.],
1998; pp. 483-523), pp. 505-509 and 510-521, who assembled a few early texts and
many late ones on this tradition to argue for its influence on the Valentinian ritual of the
bridal chamber.
250 bYoma 39a-b;yYoma 5:4, 42c; 6:3, 43c.
251
Cf. above pp. 51-54; and below, pp. 132-134.
2!i2 yYoma 7:5, 44b-c; cf. the comment in Avemarie, Yoma- VersOhnungstag, pp. 192195 for parallels.
253 In this context, the tradition of Jubilees surfaces with a reference to Gen 37:31,
where Josef's mm:l is dipped into the blood of a male goat. The same tradition appears
also in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Gen 37:31 (see also above, pp. 65-67).
127
blood sprinkling ritual in the Mishnah as well as in the Sidrei Avodah

underlines the importance of the kapporet and of the blood 254
4.2.2 Goats
The first chapter of Mishnah Shevu 'ot distinguishes sharply between the
sprinkling of the sacrificial goat's blood and the scapegoat ritual. The former rite purges the sanctuary from the impurities caused by sins and then
reconsecrates it; the latter expiates the sins of the people. 255 The very next
saying in Mishnah Shevu 'ot states that the confession over the scapegoat
and the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrificial goat atone for the sins of
Israel, while the confession over the calf and the sprinkling of its blood
atone for the priests. 256 Some modem scholars see these mishnayot as
representing the system behind the priestly source 257 Others go beyond
that and apply it to non-rabbinical sources. 258 Yet it was not the only rationale behind the ritual of the two goats. 259 Conceptually, one would expect
that the blood-sprinkling rite would be considered unnecessary in the ritual
reenactments of the synagogue, since there is no longer a temple to be
purified. Yet the verbal enactment of "sprinklings and confessions" is considered equally important, and both are emphasized in the earliest liturgical
reenactments. 260
The mishnaic tracts Shevuot and Yoma seem to consider God as the
addressee of both goats. God, however, is not always regarded as the
addressee of the scapegoat, whom we have seen associated with the
demonic leader of the evil forces in apocalyptic sources. In Hebrew, male
goats are "good to think with" Satan and the demons, since both are called
254
The exact way of sprinkling and number of movements is described in great detail
in mYoma 5:2-4. For the blood sprinklings in Sidrei Avodah see above, pp. 59-60.
255 mSebu 1:3-7; bYoma 61a, Sifra Ahare Mot4:5, here mSebu 1:6.
256
mSebu 1:7.
Most notably, Jacob Milgram, who adopted it in numerous instances in his seminal
commentary on Leviticus.
258
Wolfgang Kraus, Der Tod Jesu al.s Heiligtumsweihe, applied this rabbinic
distinction to the proto-Christian interpretations of the blood sprinkling rite in Hebrews
and Romans. B. Hudson McLean used it in his investigation of the scapegoat in Pauline
soteriology: The Cursed Christ. Mediterranean Expulsion Rituals and Pauline
Soteriology (Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Supplement Series 126; Sheffield, 1996).
259
The more general methodological problem with this approach is the generalization
of the rabbinic interpretation's application to Judaism of all times, streams and places,
which overlooks that ritual can have one meaning/rationale, none or multiple simultaneous meanings/rationales (see e.g. Bernard Lang's critique on Milgram in Lang's entry
on 1!1::1 in the Theo/ogisches W6rterbuch zum A/ten Testament 4 [1984] 303-318).
260
See Goldschmidt, Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on, p. 168:7-8, and pp. 59-60 above.
257
128
l'll'W. 261 Yet in the spiritualizing Tannaitic sources there are no traces of a
demonology behind the scapegoat. There, the scapegoat is no longer sent
to 'Az'azel but to a cliff in the desert; it is no longer called 'n~rY7 1'Yl!l but
n7mzn~ l"li'tu. 262
The demonological concept must have survived in the rabbinic backyards during the Tannaitic period, since it reappears in later sources. A
passage of the Babylonian Talmud presents 'Az'azel as a demon who
atones for the sins of 'Uzza (~TlY) and 'Aza'el (';>N!Y), without going into
further detaiis 263 Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer identifies 'Az'azel with the leader of
the demons, Samma'el, and the scapegoat as a sacrifice to him.264 Apparently, some form of the myth from ]Enoch was familiar to some
rabbis. 265 In a passage in the late medieval collection Yalqut Shim 'oni,266
Shemihaza and 'Aza'el/'Az'azel appear in a form related to I Enoch and to
Yom Kippur. Shemihaza repented, and as penitence hanged himself upside
down between heaven and earth.
'Aza'el [sic!] did not repent, and he still stands in his corruption (1?1p?p:l) to incite
humans to transgressions in the colorful garments of women, and, therefore, Israel
offered sacrifices on Yom Kippur. One ram(!) to God that he may atone for Israel
and one ram(!) to 'Az'azel [9_ic!] that he may bear the sins of Israel, and this is
'Az'azel of the Torah. 267
Notably, it is a ram that is sacrificed to 'Az'azel, not a male goat. Rams

and male goats are not always sharply distinguished. This point is important for understanding the ritual of the kapparot; the demonic leader was
associated with rams and goats, with Yom Kippur, and with tbe Aqedah.
So for example in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Leviticus 9:3 on the offerings
for Aaron's ordination:
And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'You also are to take a male
goat and offer it as a sin offering, lest Satan who is comparable to it speaks with a
slanderous tongue against you over the affair of the male goat which the tribes of
261
Demon: Lev 17:7; 2Chr 11:15; Isa 13:21; 34:14.

Sifra presents the cliff in the desert as exegesis of the difficult words '"Az'azel''
and "Gezera": Sifra, Ahare Mot, ch. 2:8: "D'1ii:J iil!'lj) D1j)7.l" and "j)l:i:J." A similar tradition
entered Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Lev 16:10 "''llj)1 rppn 1m~" and 16:2lb-22 "~'1:i 1n~."
263
bYoma 67b attributed to the Tannaite Rabbi Yishmael.
264
Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 46.
265 Cf. the (late) additions to Deuteronomy Rabbah 11:10 (ed. Mirkin, pp. 157-160; not
in ed. Liebermann); Seder Eliyahu Zuta 25; see also Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 22; Rashi on
bNid6la; YalqutShim'oni, 1:44.
266 Sternberger dates this collection of Midrashim to the thirteenth century. It contains
an abundance of old traditions that would otherwise have been lost, Sternberger, Einleitung in Talmud und Midrasch, pp. 341-342.
267 My translation of Yalqut Shim 'oni 1:44.
262
/maginaires of Yom Kippur
129
Jacob slaughtered in order to deceive their father. (Take) as a burnt offering a calf
- because you worshiped the calf- and a lamb, a year old, that the merit of Isaac,
whose father tied him like a lamb, may be remembered on your behalf. Both of
them (shall be) without blemish.268
While Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Leviticus 9:3 is not directly linked to

Yom Kippur, all of the traditions contained in this passage are sometimes
associated with the Day of Atonement. First, the male goat is sacrificed to
the lord of the evil powers, Satan, to keep him from accusing Israel in the
heavenly court for the vending of Joseph. The vending of Joseph was connected with Yom Kippur in Jubilees,Z 69 but it also appears in the Palestinian Talmud as a rationale for the atoning power of the high priest's
tunic.270 Second, a calf is offered to atone for tbe sin of the golden calf. As
noted above, Yom Kippur commemorates the second giving of the Torah
on a day of repentance after the sin of the golden calf and the breaking of
the first tablets. 271 Finally, a lamb is sacrificed to evoke God's mercy by
reminding him of the merits of tbe lamb-like Isaac. The latter is strange,
since it was a ram that was offered in Isaac's stead, not a lamb. Christian
interpretations may be responsible for this irregularity. An early identification of the ram of the binding of Isaac and the scapegoat may be inferred
from the fact that in the mosaics of the synagogues of Beit Alfa and Sepphoris the ram is hanging from the tree with a reddish rope, reminiscent of
the red ribbon of the scapegoat. 272
268 Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Lev 9:3, translation of M. Maher, "Targnm PseudoJonathan: Leviticus. Translated with Notes," in: M. McNamara (ed.), The Aramaic Bible
(Edinburgh, 1994); the italics indicate the Aramaic additions as compared to the Masoretic Text.
269 "And the sons of Jacob slaughtered a kid and dipped Joseph's garment into the
blood and sent (it) to Jacob, their father, on the tenth of the seventh month. And he lamented all of that night. because they had brought it to him in the evening.... Therefore
it is decreed for the children oflsrael that they mourn on the tenth (day) of the seventh
month - on the day when that which caused him to weep for Joseph came to Jacob, his
father- so that they might atone for them(selves) with a young kid on the tenth (day) of
the seventh month, once a year, on account of their sin because they caused the affection
of their father to grieve for Joseph, his son." (Jubilees 34: 12.13a.l8, transl. Wintermute).
210
yYoma 7:5, 44b. This tradition was taken up in the anonymous 'Az be'Ein Koi (ed.
Yahalom, p. 124, line 553) and embellished by Yose ben Yose.
271 See also bYoma 86a.
272
See Z.E. Weiss and E. Netzer (eds-), Promise and Redemption. A Synagogue
Mosaic from Sepphoris (Jerusalem, 1996), p. 31; and E.L. Sukenik, The Ancient Synagogue of Beth Alpha. An Account of the Excavations Conducted on Behalf of the Hebrew
University, Jerusalem (Jerusalem and London, 1932), plate XIX. I would like to express
my gratitude to GUnter Sternberger, who drew my attention to these mosaics. Also Barnabas 7 might have known a tradition connecting the binding of Isaac to Yom Kippur.
See also the Yom Kippur homily on Gen 22 in Leviticus Rabbah 20:2 (Margulies,
130
f
I
Also the death of righteous men can atone vicariously as Yom Kippur
sacrifices. Leviticus Rabbah quotes the famous rabbinical saying that "just
as Yom Kippur atones, so does the death of the righteous."273 Targum
Pseudo-Jonathan and Genesis Rabbah compare the blood of the male goat
to human blood. 274 Men could become scapegoats, too, as a passage from
the Babylonian Talmud demonstrates: "On that day Ravya bar Qisi died,
and they erected a sign: Ravya [bar] Qisi achieves atonement like [or: as]
the goat that was sent away."275 This must mean that the death of the righteous Ravya bar Qisi effected atonement vicariously. While the statement
remains in the realm of comparison, not identification, it demonstrates that
as with Josephus' portrayal of Ananus, the idea of comparing the vicarious
atonement of men to the ritual of the scapegoat was not foreign to rabbinic
Judaism. 276
As Lauterbach has suggested, it is probably a similar complex association of ram and male goat, man and Satan, Joseph and Isaac, merit and
apotropaic sacrifice, that stands behind the kapparot, especiaUy if performed with a ram. 277
In sum, in the sources from the Amoraic period, there are two parallel
rationales. The addressee of the scapegoat can be God (Tannaitic and
Amoraic sources) or Satan (Amoraic sources). 278
131
nah does not explicitly refer to the whitening of the scapegoat ribbon, this
seems to be assumed. The Babylonian Talmud hands down a different tradition. According to a Baraita in the name of Rabbi Yishmael evoking Isaiah 1:18.,281 the red ribbon was publicly displayed on the outside of the
sanctuary door, signifying the transition to a sinless state when the scapegoat reached the desert. Another Baraita, in the name of "the rabbis," sets
the two rites in a chronological sequence. First the red ribbon was bound to
the outside of the door of the sanctuary; but it did not always turn white, so
they decided to put it on the inside of the door, and only when it did not
turn white was it bound to the scapegoat.282 The Palestinian Talmud has a
similar Baraita.283 Here, people began by hanging the red ribbon on the
windows of private houses, then they hung it on the door of the sanctuary
and finally attached it to the rock (before pushing the scapegoat off). In
both traditions, the red ribbon on the scapegoat was presented as a final
stage, after the wondrous oracle of the red ribbon turning white began to
fail. Regardless of whether the Baraitot reflect a historical development, 284
the change reflects a transition from a public to a secret act in the Palestinian Talmud, also from a popular to a personal ritual. Furthermore, it
demonstrates the rabbinical opposition to a visible proof that atonement
was indeed achieved. In addition, the red ribbon is associated with apotropaic powers in healing magic, attested in the Tosefta and in non-Jewish
sources of this time. 285
4.2.3 Red Ribbons

According to Mishnah Yoma, a red ribbon was tied to the head of the
scapegoat to distinguish it from the sacrificial goat, and before the scapegoat was pushed off the cliff, half of the ribbon was bound to a rock. 279 Already in the Mishnah, the rite is prooftexted with Isaiah I :18 ("though your
sins are like scarlet they shall be [white] as snow").280 Though this Mishpp. 445--451, esp. 447-451), which very similar to Pesiqta Rav Kahana 26:3
(Mandelbaum, pp. 389-390).
273 Leviticus Rabbah 20:12 (ed. Margulies p. 472): 1nn1J TJ 1~J7.l 0'11~'::1;1 mw cw::~
m~JlJ 1::1'P'1!?w. This saying appears also in Pesiqta Rav Kahana26:11 (ed. Mandelbaum,
p. 399).
274
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Gen 37:31; Genesis Rabbah 84:31 (ed. Theodor/Albeck,
p. 1024) on the same verse.
275
My translation of bYoma 42a (n?ntzllJii 1'l7!17J 1~Jll op [1::1] N'::l1).
276
See above, pp. 117.
m See pp. 66-67, below.
278
Was there a transition from the ftrst to the second interpretation? The Babylonian
Talmud attributes the demonological interpretation to Rabbi Yisbmael, and if this is correct, the demonological interpretation survive not in esoteric Tannaitic circles but in the
school of a major teacher.
279 mYoma 42 66
280 mSabb 9:3.' ..
I
I
l_
281
bYoma 68a. The tradition on the red ribbon on the door of the sanctuary, which in
the printed editions of the Mishnah appears at the end of the sixth chapter, is not included
in the best manuscripts: Rosenberg, "Mishna 'Kipurim'," vol. 2, p. 77; Goldstein, "Worship at the Temple in Jerusalem- Rabbinic Interpretation and Influence," p. 125.
282
bYoma 67a.
283
yYoma 6:5, 43d. However, in the Leiden manuscript, these lines are an addition
written in the margins. For the tradition, see also Psalms Rabbah (on Ps 86:8; ed. Buber,
p. 375), which explicitly connects this tradition to the efficacy of prayer, i.e. more in a
post- or extra-temple context.
284
Three historical scenarios can explain the Baraitot. They may reflect ritual changes
during the Second Temple period: see Goldstein, "Worship at the Temple in JerusalemRabbinic Interpretation and Influence," 114-123. Or they may be a polemic against a
contemporary popular custom of the rabbinic period, which the rabbis preferred be performed only on the scapegoat (i.e. nowhere). Or they may be an etiology for the strange
combination of Isa 1: 18 and the red ribbon of the scapegoat as proposed by mSabb 9:3.
285
See tSabb 6:1; tSabb 7:11; bSabb 53a; bGit 68b-70b; John Chrysostom, Twelfth
Homily on First Corinthians, 7 (PG 61:105D-106A), which uses K6KK\VOc; tttfu.J.mv;
G. Veltri, Magie und Halakha. Ansdtze zu einem empirischen Wissenschaftsbegriff im
spdtantiken und frahmittelalterlichen Judentum (Texte und Studien zwn Antiken
Judentum 62; Tiibingen 1997), pp. 104-106, 145-146, 248. Cf. also tSotah 14:9 and
bSotah 49b (Veltri, Magie und Halakha, pp. 145-146).
132
4.3 Rabbinic Interpretation of the Ritual of the People

Some rabbinic traditions connect the afflictions of the people to the temple
ritual. E.g., abstention from sleep is presented as an imitation of the high
priest's vigil. 286 And as (high) priests could be portrayed as angels, the
afflictions to which people were submitting themselves could also be cOnceived of as making them angelic. In Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer, Samma'el expresses his admiration and disappointment that the self-affliction of the
people makes them angelic - they are barefooted, do not eat or drink,
stand, have peace among them, are sinless, and pray. 287
The four prayer times correspond to the times of sacrifices in the
temple. The explanation for the additional prayer of the Ne'ila, however, is .
disputed. According to a "Caesarean tradition" in the Palestinian Talmud,
Rav suggested that the Ne'ilah designates the time of closing of the doors
of heaven, while Rabbi Yohanan connects the prayer to the time of closing
of the temple doors 288 The historical solution of Rabbi Yohanan is probably as purely theological as is the cosmological proposal by Rav.
In rabbinic literature, in the absence of the temple ritual, repentance was
regarded as highly significant,289 having been accorded a status akin to a
hypostasis; it belongs to the thirlgs created before the world 290 But already
in Jubilees repentance had been one of the great, key elements of Yom
K.ippur. 291 The word ;J:mvn is attested for the first time in Qumran. 292 Philo
considers repentance a virtue and attributes great powers to it. 293 It is the
central theme of Pseudo-Philo's sermon On Jonah. The Babylonian Tal286
bYoma l9b.
Pirqe Rabbi E/iezer 46.
288
yBer4:l, 1c;yTa'an4:l, 67c.
289
Among the vast literature on repentance in rabbinic literature, see BUchler, Studies
in Sin and Atonement; Urbach, The Sages, pp. 462-471.
290
bPesah 54a; bNed 39b.
291
292
On repentance in Qumran, see B. Nitzan, "Repentance in the Dead Sea Scrolls,'' in:
P.W. Flint and J.C. Vanderkam (eds.), The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years. A Comprehensive Assessment (Leiden, 1999; vol. 2, pp. 145-170); S.J. Pfann, "The Essene Yearly
Renewal Ceremony and the Baptism of Repentance," in: D.W. Parry and E. Ulrich (eds.),
The Provo International Conference on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Technological Innovations,
New Texts, and Reformulated Issues (Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 30;
Leiden, 1999; pp. 337-352). The overview by Bell is tendentious but useful as a
collection of sources: see R.H. Bell, "Tesbubah: The Idea of Repentance in Ancient Judaism," The Journal of Progressive Judaism 5 (1995) 22-52.
293
On repentance in Philo, see D. Winston, "Philo's Doctrine of Repentance," in: J.P.
Kenney (ed.), The School of Moses. Studies in Philo and Hellenistic Religion in Memory
of Horst R. Moehring (Studia Philonica Monographs 1; Brown Judaic Studies 304;
Atlanta [Ga.], 1995; pp. 29-40).
287
133
mud of Yoma includes several instances of praise for repentance and its
universal and cosmological effects of healing, often connected to
Hosea 14. 294 They culminate in Rabbi Meir's statement: '~Great is repentance that for one who repents, the whole world is forgiven"- i.e. the revolutionary idea of vicarious repentance, which did not become mainstream
thought. In another of these passages, repentance is equated with sacrifices, using for the first time the Masoretic Text of Hosea 14:3: "And we
will offer the bulls with our lips," the text that will become the standard
prooftext for the substitution of sacrifice by prayer. According to a similar
statement in Canticles Rabbah, Hosea 14:3 refers directly to the bull and
the scapegoat. 295 These two are the only early usages of this verse, and
both appear in the context of Yom Kippur. Apparently, the need to fmd a
theological solution for substituting sacrifices with prayer was most urgently felt for the Day of Atonement.
So high a status of repentance raises questions about the importance of
Yom Kippur and its afflictions. Does one need a Yom Kippur if the repentance of one member can vicariously achieve forgiveness for the whole
world? Other rabbis discuss the opposite question. Does Yom Kippur
achieve atonement ex opere operato, or is an inner attitude such as repentance an indispensable element of Yom Kippur? An (anonymous) Mishnah
gives repentance the power to atone for minor transgressions only, while
graver transgressions need the atoning power of Yom Kippur, too. Still,
repentance is indispensable for the atoning power of Yom Kippur and
death. 296 Accordingly, in Tannaitic sources, Yom Kippur and repentance
are mutually dependent. The Talmudim include a more radical statement,
attributed to Rabbi 297 that Yom Kippur or death may effect atonement even
without repentance- ex opere operata or even ex die. 298 Despite both Talmudim continuing the discussion and disregarding Rabbi's option, the
Babylonian Talmud may be understood to agree with him.
The Tosefta and the Talmudim contain a tradition according to which
Rabbi Yishmael distinguishes between four different kinds of sins and
294
bYoma 86a-b.
Canticles Rabbah on Cant 4:4, sign 9. The statement is in the name of Rabbi
Abbahu (d. ca. 309). Similar ideas of substituting verbal acts for sacrifice can be found in
bMenah 106b; bMeg 3lb; bTa'an 27b.
296
mYoma 8:8. The Tosefta goes in the same direction as the Mishnah, with the
exception that Rabbi Yehudah states ambiguously that death is like repentance: see
tYoma4:9.
297
Albeit with problems in the attribution and the contents in the Palestinian Talmud:
see Avemarie, Yoma- VersiJhnungstag, pp. 225-226.
293 yYoma 8:6, 45b; bYoma 85b.
295
their corresponding atonement. 299 Repentance atones (without Yom Kippur) only for the transgression of minor commandments. It delays the
punishment for transgressing minor prohibitions until Yom Kippur, which
atones. Deliberate transgressions of grave commandments are partly
atoned for by repentance and Yom Kippur, and partly by torments during
the year. 300 Blasphemy, however, is atoned for one third by repentance and
Yom Kippur, one third by the torments (during the rest of one's life) and
one third by death. Here again the concept is closer to that of the Tannaitic
sources (Yom Kippur and repentance are mutually interdependent), with
the addition of the atoning function of the flagella Dei. Finally, in addition
to repentance, death and suffering, charity and good deeds have an atoning
effect.301
In sum, the singular importance of repentance does not make Yom Kippur superfluous, because the Day of Atonement is conceived of as having
an intrinsic atoning power for major sins, in some cases even without
repentance. God's mercy is the all-deciding factor.
In the 1960s, Johann Maier deduced early Jewish myst1c1sm from

priestly speculations on the Jerusalem temple cnlt304 Rachel Elior has
picked up this line of thought and developed it further, suggesting a close
relationship between the upsurge in the output of early Jewish mystical literature, priestly circles and visions evoked by acute distress after the destruction of Jerusalem's temple and the cessation of its cult.305 Notably,
Elior does not make any explicit claim about the specific influence of Yom
Kippur but is concerned with all motifs in the Hekhalot literature that
evoke the temple service and priesthood. Our concern is only with those
motifs related to Yom Kippur.
The Hekhalot literature contains various ascent descriptions, with numerous details corresponding to the high-priestly entrance on Yom Kippur.
The two protagonists of the Hekhalot texts, Rabbi Yishmael (ben Elisha)
and Metatron, are frequently portrayed as high priests or as executing
high-priestly functions 306 The heavenly sanctuary is described in rough
analogy to Jerusalem's temple, with areas of increasing sanctity, usually
seven. In the heavenly prayer'07 the heavenly creatures (and the participating mystics) have- like priests or high priests- to prepare themselves for
the presence of God's glory by protection rites: sanctification, purification
and the wearing of special garments 308 The center of the heavenly ritual is
the pronouncing of God's name, often in the form of the Qedusha, upon
which the heavenly creatures answer ~~Blessed be the name of the glory of
His kingdom to all eternity,"309 and in some cases, the heavenly hosts react
by prostrating themselves; 310 trumpets may be blown and a benediction
said. 311
134
5. High-PriestJy Visions of God III:

Aspects of Yom Kippur in the Hekhalot Literature
Jewish mystical texts collected under the heading "Hekhalot literature" use
the high-priestly entrance as an image to describe the mystical ascent
vision. 302 Regretfully, the unresolved chronological problem impedes a
satisfactory discourse on their exact relationship to Second Temple and
early Christian and Gnostic literature. The dates proposed for these texts
range from the Second Temple period to the Gaonic period and later. 303
135
l04 J. Maier, Vom Kultus zur Gnosis. Bundeslade, Gottesthron und Miirkabah (Salzburg, 1964).
305 Elior, "From Earthly Temple to Heavenly Shrines."
306 Elior, "From Earthly Temple to Heavenly Shrines," pp. 227-230.
307 Elior distinguishes between three kinds of prayer, heavenly, shared and mystical,
according to the perfonner, the first being by far the most frequently described.
308 Elior, "From Earthly Temple to Heavenly Shrines," p. 243, referring to 3Enoch 36
(Synopsis 54); Hekhalot Rabbati 181.184-185; Hekhalot Rabbati 299; Hekhalot
Zutarti 424; Seder Rabba deBere'shit 811.814-816.
309 Elior, "From Earthly Temple to Heavenly Shrines," pp. 261-263, referring to Shi'ur
Qomah 384; Metatron 390; Ma'aseh Merkavah 555; and 3Enoch 39 (Synopsis 57).
A glance at Schafer's concordance reveals that the benediction 1"7o:nu::J appears very
often, about 30 times according to the synopsis.
310
Elior, "From Earthly Temple to Heavenly Shrines," p. 263, referring to 3Enoch
(Synopsis 57).
311 Elior, "From Earthly Temple to Heavenly Shrines," pp. 238-242, referring to
Hekhalot Zutarti 411; Hekhalot Rabbati 192.
299
tYoma 4:6---8;yYoma 8:6, 45b-c; bYoma 86a.

One could say that the hardships cause the other days of the year to become like
Yom Kippur with its afflictions.
301
See e.g. bEer 5b.
302 I quote the various texts of this genre according to section numbers in Schafer,
Schliiter and von Mutius, Synapse zur Hekhalot-Literatur.
303
G.G. Scholem, Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition.
Based on the Israel Goldstein Lectures, Delivered at the Jewish Theological Seminary of
America, New York (New York, 1960). See also R. Elior, "From Earthly Temple to
Heavenly Shrines. Prayer and Sacred Song in the Hekhalot Literature and Its Relation to
Temple Traditions," Jewish Studies Quarterly 4 (1997) 217-167, for the more recent
literature, especially notes 3, 9, 12, 13, 22. And see idem, "The Merkavah Tradition and
the Emergence of Jewish Mysticism," in: A. Oppenheimer (ed.), Sino-Judaica. Jews and
Chinese in Historical Dialogue. An International Colloquium Nanjing, 11-19 October
1996 (Tel Aviv, 1999; pp. 101-158).
300
~~;).
A tradition in Hekhalot Zutarti explicitly links the mystics' ascent practices to Yom Kippur:
Furthermore, the pronunciation of God's name accompanied by prostration

by the people appears for the first time in the early Sidrei Avodah and from
there appears to have entered the Mishnah Yoma 6:2, -since it is missing in
the best manuscripts and not commented upon in the Talmudim. 318 I do not
know of a Second Temple ascent tradition focusing on the pronunciation of
God's name with the customary answer benediction,319 neither do I know
of such a tradition mentioning trumpets or a concluding benediction.
Although these elements were probably not part of the actual Yom Kippur ritual, they were regarded as such by many paytahim who wrote the
first Sidrei Avodah. Compared to depictions of Philo, Hebrews and the
Valentinians, which add specific Yom Kippur elements, the Hekhalot seem
to be less influenced by the historical Yom Kippur temple ritual but more
by its imaginaire mixed with that of the daily temple cnlt.
Michael Swartz has analyzed prayers from the high holidays found in
the Hekhalot tradition Ma'aseh Merkavah. 'Attah Yodea' Razey 'Olam, for
example, appears only slightly transformed in 548 as part of a long
mystical prayer. 320 The mystical prayer is too long to be quoted here in
full'" It calls on God using a divine name, 322 praises God's might, kingship and esoteric knowledge, describes the heavenly court and emphasizes
God's mercy. The table that follows compares the version of 'Attah Yodea'
Razey 'Olam in Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on with the relevant part of the
mystical prayer according to two manuscripts of Ma 'aseh Merkavah 548,
New York JTS 8128 and Munich Codex Hebr. 22:
136
Rabbi Aqiva said: "Everybody who wants to study this Mishnah and interpret the
Name in Its interpretatian312 shall sit fasting for 40 days and lay his head between
his thighs until the fast controls him .... And he shall be acquainted with it from
m~nth to month and from year to year, 30 days before Rosh Hashanah beginning
wttb the New Moon of Elul until Yom Kippur so that Satan might not lay blame
on him and spoil the whole year.m
References to 40 days of fasting are frequent in the Hekhalot literature."'

However, Yom Kippur and the period of repentance preceding it are particularly effective in protecting the mystic from evil powers. The liturgical
custom of pronouncing the divine name openly only on Yom Kippur and
the apocalyptic/proto-mystic tradition connecting the vision of God to the
high priest's encounter with God in the holy of holies may have been factors in this development.
To what extent do these motifs reflect priestly knowledge of the historical temple ritual or the influence of the contemporary prayer service of
Yom Kippur? To what extent are they the heritage of the apocalyptic
imaginaire of Yom Kippur, and to what extent did the mystics behind
these texts recognize a connection to the high priest's entrance and add
further allusions?
Descriptions of mystic visions in the Hekhalot literature and Second
Temple ascent texts share the following motifs: allusions to the highpriestly function of the ascending; a heavenly sanctuary with increasing
levels of sanctity; a heavenly liturgy by angels; prostration, sanctification
and purification; and the putting on of special, fresh garments. 315
Three motifs - the pronounciation of God's name, the benediction
"Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom to all eternity" and the
prostration of the people - are not contained in the apocalyptic ascent descriptions. According to Elior, they recall the descriptions of the high
priest's performance in Sirach 50 and Mishnah Tamid 7, and his confession with the people's answers in the common text of Mishnah Yoma. 316
However, Sirach 50 and Tamid 7 describe the daily ritual. In the temple,
God's name was pronounced not only on Yom Kippur but every day. 317
Seder Rav Sa 'adia Ga'on 313
New YorkJTS8128 324
You know
the mysteries of the universe
and the deepest secrets of all
the living.
You know
the mysteries of the universe
and examine wisdom and hidden ways.

You
Or: pronounce the Name openly."

My translation of Hekhalot Zutarti 424 (ms Oxford 1531).
E.g. Hekhalot Rabbati 313-314.
m See e.g. I Enoch 14; 2Enoch 22; Testament of Levi 3; 5; 8.
316
Trumpets: Sir 50:16 and mTamid7:3; prostration: Sir 50:17.21 and mTamid7:3;
benediction mentioning God's name: Sir 50:20 and mTamid 7:2.
311
E.g. Sir 50:20.
314
and examine the

wisdom of hidden
ways.
Who is like you,
Seep. 59, note 242, above.

In Testament of Levi 5:5, Levi asks God to teach him his name.
320
See Swartz, Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism, pp. 111-118, esp. pp. 115-118.
321
Ma'aseh Merkavah 548-549.
322 '7K1W1 ,tl?N tll;T' ,111 (New York 8128). This name is definitely connected to the root
11 (.. mystery").
323
Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (ed. Davidson, Asafand Yoel, p. 258), my translation.
324
Ma'aseh Merkavah 548, manuscript NY 8128, my translation.
325
Ma 'aseh Merkavah 548, manuscript M22, my translation.
319
313
Munich Cod.
Hebr. 22 325
You know
who
3l8
312
Who is like you, who
137
138

checks
checks
hearts
and
hearts
and
search all the inner bowels

and
examines
see
kidneys
kidneys?
kidneys?
and heart.
Nothing is concealed from
you and nothing is hidden
from your eves.
Among the thoughts

there is nothing concealed from
you and nothing is bidden from
[your eyes.
Contrary to the accent on human secrets in Sa'adia's confession, the mystical prayer emphasizes esoteric divine knowledge. 326 The New York
manuscript is closer to 'Attah Yodea' Razey '0/am in Seder Rav Sa'adia
Ga 'on than the other manuscripts. Swartz concludes that the scribe of the
New York manuscript was influenced by the Yom Kippur liturgy. 327 Using
a confession as a mystical prayer is probably grounded in the conception
that the mystic has to "cleanse himself of iniquity and falsehood, and of all
evil"328 to approach God, and ipclusion of the divine name is supposed to
protect the mystic. 329 Moreover, almost certainly, the traditional concept of
the holy of holies as the place and of Yom Kippur as the day to directly
encounter God was an important factor in this development.
Interestingly, the ritnal of the sacrificial goat fmds its mythological
echo in an eschatological passage in Hekha/ot Rahbati. "He [Samael] will
be slaughtered and killed, he and all ministers of the kingdoms in the
heights, like the kids (0"1l) and lambs (O'fllJJ) of Yom Kippur."330 Samael
is punished for having killed ten righteous men to avenge the vending of
Josef by their forefathers. As the name of the demon indicates, this is a
transformed version of the 'Asa'el myth. The 'Asa'el myth, however, typologizes the scapegoat. 331 This story with the Josef motiv as frame
326
Swartz, Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism, p. 116.

Swartz, Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism, pp. 116-117.
Ma'asehMerkavah 547.
329
Swartz, Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism, pp. 117-118 and p. 218.
330
Hekhalot Rabbati 108. Why does Hekhalot Rabbati talk of kids and lambs, which
alludes to Passover, instead of goats? Is this a polemical reaction to Christian traditions
as in John 1:29? I would like to thank Ra'anan Abusch for this observation and suggestion.
331
Beyond this, the legend of 'Uzza', 'Azza' and 'Aza'el appears in 3Enoch 4-5
(Synopsis 5-8). On the history of the tradition from I Enoch to 3Enoch, see A.Y. Reed,
"From Asael and Semihazah to Uzzah, Azzah, and Azael: 3 Enoch 5 ( 7-8) and Jewish
Reception~History of I Enoch," Jewish Studies Quarterly 8 (2001) 105-136, who
327
328
139
appears also in the medieval Midrash The Story of the Ten Martyrs ( OlfllY
mJ'?n 'lll;J), the poetic form of which, 'E/eh Ezkerah, became pm of the
Yom Kippur service in some conununities. 332 In several recenswns, (the
333
eve of) Yom Kippur was the execution day ofEli'ezer ben Shammua or
Rabbi Aqiva. 334 Here, the execution of the righteous (not Samael) serv~s as
a Yom Kippur sacrifice for the original sin of the forefathers who killed
Josef.335
In sum, the paytanim and the writers of the Hekbalot texts may have the
same priestly provenance. However, I hes1ta:e to .conclude that the
traditions in the Hekhalot literature reflect esotencal pnestly knowledge of
the historical temple ritnal. As the secondary adaption of 'Attah Yodea'
Razey '0/am in manuscript New York and of the b:~ediction. "Blessed be
the name of the glory of His kingdom to all etermty m the Mishnah show,
new motifs connecting the mystical .experience with Yom Kippur but not
appearing in Second Temple ascent texts can be the result of the influe~~e
of the contemporary prayer ritual of Yom Kippur ?n the mysttc s
imagination: "How it should have been" rather than the h1stoncal n:emory
of "How it was." The question remains open as to whether the. scr~bes of
the Hekhalot texts were actual priests or merely wanted to be pnesthke.
Concluding Thoughts to Part One

While the destruction of the temple brought the high priest's ritual to an
abrupt end, the prayers and afflictions of the people continued. To be sure,
proposes that 3Enoch 5 is dependent on !Enoch 6-11, perhaps via Christian sources such
as Syncellus.
.
m 'Eleh 'Ezkerah (:-n:m~: ;,?R, "These I shall recall"). Although the s~ory IS not a_ part
of the texts traditionally regarded as Hekhalot literature, there are some mterconnection:.
These Midrashim have been conveniently published in synoptic fonn by ~- Reeg, D~e
Geschichte von den Zehn Miirtyrern (Texts and Studies in Ancient ~uda1sm ,10; :ubingen, 1985). This tradition has been scrutinized by R. ft:busc~, :Rabbi Is~~el_ s_ Mtraculous Conception. Jewish Redemption History in Anti-Christtan Poler_m~, ~~- A-~
Becker and A. Reed (eds.), The Ways That Never Parted: Jews and ~hnst1ans _m_ Antl"ty and the Early Middle Ages. (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judatsm 95; Tubmgen,
ro~3; pp. 307-345). I would like to express my appreciatio~ to Ra'anan Abuse~ for
sending me a copy of his paper prior to its publication. A poetic form of the ~tory, Eleh
'Ezkerah, became part of the Ashkenazy Yom Kippur liturgy: see Goldschmtdt, Mahzor
for the Days ofAwe, voL 2, pp. 568-574.
333 The Story of the Ten Martyrs I 51:2.7.
334 The Story of the Ten Martyrs III 33: 12; VII 31:34; IX 31:33.
33S Cf. the rabbinical statement n,~J?J O'j)'1!?117 lnll'l:l 1:1 ,~JI:l O',l~'J;'I 01' 117 01I7J,
Leviticus Rabbah 20:12 (ed. Margulies, p. 472): see above p. 130, note 273.
141
the rituals in and outside the temple were affiliated. The high priest prayed
at the end of his ceremony (possibly being the forerunner of Qumran's
Festival Prayers). In addition, ritual reenactments of the high priest's ritual
were probably already part of the service in some synagogues of the Second Temple period, especially as readings of the biblical descriptions or a
translation or a paraphrase of them. There is a slight possibility that some
Second Temple communities used a kind of Seder Avodah. The motifs
shared by Qumranic, Philonic and rabbinic prayers, however, are neither
close nor numerous enough to point to a geographically extensive and
chronologically continuous common tradition.
Beyond that, the emergence, spread and success of the kapparot against
all the learned rabbis' objections manifest the extent of the psychological
pressure and the people's attachment to the idea of atonement through the
blood and death of an animal. Prayer, afflictions such as fasting, and repentance, which had become the means of atonement (e.g. Philo, Qumran
and the rabbis), were apparently not enough for some people 336 Aspects of
the ritual encounter with the divine in the high-priestly entrance to the holy
of holies were transformed into a kind of ritual in some forms of mysticism, especially among the group that produced the Songs of the Sabbath
Conversely, these conceptions served as a rationale for the Yom Kippur

rituals. The high-priestly entrance was understood as a dangerous encounter with God, demanding spiritual and ritual preparation. The scapegoat
ritual was conceived of as an expiation of the demonic powers, annualy
preenacting the eschatological destruction of the evil forces and libe~ation
of their good prisoners by an angelic, high-priestly redeemer. Accordmgly,
140
eschatological expectations must have been particularly high around Yom

Kippur. A related form of the eschatological atmosphere comes to the fore
in Qumran's conception of the current period of persecution as a prolonged
Yom Kippur that would end with the coming of the high-priestly redeemer
and the destruction of evil.
The myth of !Enoch 10 served among other purposes as a rationale for
the temple ritual in a priestly group interested in Jerusalem's temple cult.
The creation of such texts as 4Qi80, 4Qi81 and !IQMelchizedek in a
temple-less environment attests that the myths around 'Az'az~l and the
"combat" between scapegoat and high priest could develop even m a group
not necessarily participating in the temple ritual but living (in) the same
imaginaire. While Qumran disregarded the contemporaneous Jerusalem
temple, it did not consider the idea of a material temple and blood sacrifices invalid but waited for the return to Jerusalem.
Sacrifice and, as we shall see, in Valentinian Gnosticism; perhaps also
among the apocalyptic visionaries and in Hekhalot mysticism.

Etiological legends connect Yom Kippur to the mythological events of
its biblical context (the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, the golden calf,
the ordination of Aaron), to the consecration of the First Temple, and to
events in the lives of the forefathers (Noah's repentance, Abraham's
circumcision, Joseph's vending).
The central ideas of the rabbinic imaginaire of Yom Kippur- the day of
judgment and eschatological redemption- had already emerged in Second
Temple Judaism, especially in apocalyptic circles. The scapegoat was usually considered an embodiment of sin or of the evil forces. Its ritual killing
is linked to the myth of the fallen angels and the punishment of their demonic leader. Scant evidence exists for associating the scapegoat with
positive figures (Ananus, Ravya bar Qisi).
The high priest's entrance into the holy of holies was widely used for
describing the encounter with God. Prophetic, apocalyptic and Hekhalot
texts (and Hebrews) hint at a scene that Philo and the Valentinian Christian
texts describe more explicitly. While all texts except those of Philo are dependent on some sort of common tradition, they also draw independently
on Yom Kippur as a source of inspiration.
336
An anthropological study of the motivation for performing the kapparot today could
perhaps help to hypothesize about the reasons for its success in the Middle Ages.
Part Two
The Impact of Yom Kippur

Chapter4
y om Kippur Imagery in the Early Christian Imaginaire

Part 2 investigates the impact of the rituals and concepts of Yom Kippur
on early Christian beliefs and practices. The Christian myth par excellence
(i.e. narrative with foundational status) is the account of the death of Jesus
and the various meanings attached to it, especially vicarious atonement. 1
The earliest myths of Christianity were formulated by Christian Jews, who

used their collective (Jewish) memory, their collective repertoires of
motifs, to understand the death of their leader. For them, Yom Kippur was
one of the principal features of their religious life. A number of Jewish
myths about a messianic redeemer were cmmected to the imaginaire of
Yom Kippur, and at a very early stage Jesus' death was understood as
having the same purpose as Yom Kippur: the atonement of the collective.
Regarding this constellation, it would have been odd if the most important
festival of Second Temple Judaism and the essential theological concepts
connected to it had not influenced the interpretations of Jesus, death.
In the pages that follow, I will investigate several passages from the literature of earliest Christianity that have been explained against the background of Yom Kippur and provide evidence for the extensive impact of
that festival. The imagery of the temple ritual of Yom Kippur inspired not
only typologies of Christ, but also the formulation of the Matthean Passion
narrative, being used in particular to illustrate the atoning power of his
death. Some of the passages discussed below emerged in the earliest, pre-
Pauline circles (the traditions used by Paul in Romans 3:25-26, the high
priesthood before Hebrews, and perhaps the proto-typology used by
Barnabas). Several texts belong to the most central and influential verses
of the New Testament, among them Romans 3:24-26, Galatians 3-4,
Hebrews 9 and Matthew 27:15-26.
Many of these passages, but not all, have been discussed in the earlier,
unpublished works of Norman H. Young and J.P. Scullion. 2 Young's work,

1
For the sociological definitions of imaginaire myth and mythology used here, see
above pp. 7-10.
2
Young, "The Impact of the Jewish Day of Atonement upon the Thought of the New
Testament"; Scullion, "A Traditio-Historical Study of the Day of Atonement." See also
now the general investigation of atonement in the New Testament by T. Kn6ppler, SUhne
Yom Kippur Imagery in the Early Christian lmaginaire
146 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the First and Second Centuries
in particular, laid the foundations for future research. The work of Wolfgang Kraus suggests interesting interpretations for Romans 3:25 and Hebrews' Yet all these studies disregard, either partially or completely, the
non-canonical texts, Barnabas and the Gospel of Peter, which date to
around the same time as such late canonical texts as 2Peter and even had
canonical status in some places. 4 The works of Helmut Koester and John
Dominic Crossan are important in filling this gap. 5 The integration of this
recent research on the non-canonical sources into a comprehensive analysis
of the influence of Yom Kippur on early Christianity is one of the main
purposes of this chapter. I will also offer a number of fresh readings of
New Testament passages and will especially relate to Matthew's Barabbas
episode.6
In my analysis I focus on four guiding questions: Which elements of
Yom Kippur can be perceived as having had an influence, and where?
What kind of Yom Kippur (apocalyptic imaginaire, ritual, Leviticus 16)
im Neuen Testament. Studien zum urchrist/ichen Verstdndnis der Heilsbedeutung des Todes Jesu (Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament 88; Neukirchen-Vluyn, 200 I).
~
3
Kraus, Der Tod Jesu als Heiligtumsweihe, passim.
4
R.E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (New York, 1998), p. 767,
suggests the years 120-140 CE as most likely for 2Peter. For the dates discussed for Barnabas, see note 11, below.
Significantly, Young, "The Impact of the Jewish Day of Atonement upon the
Thought of the New Testament," and Kraus, Der Tod Jesu als Heiligtumsweihe, relegate
their quite brief discussions of Barnabas to the appendix and in their conclusions do not
really pay heed to its implications. Even such an outstanding expert on Apocrypha as
Klaus Berger does not include Barnabas in his recent Theologiegeschichte des Urchristentums. The subtitle, Theologie des NT, comes closer to the contents. KnBppler,
Suhne im Neuen Testament, does not deal with non-canonical early Christian literature.
5
See H. KBster [Koester], Synoptische Vberlieferung bei den Apostolischen Vdtern
(Texte und Untersuchungen 65; Berlin, 1957); H. Koester, "Apocryphal and Canonical
Gospels," Harvard Theological Review 13 (1980) 105-130; idem, Introduction to the
New Testament. Volume One: History, Culture, and Religion of the Hellenistic Age.
Volume Two: History and Literature of Early Christianity (Berlin, New York and Philadelphia, 1982); idem, Ancient Christian Gospels. Their History and Development (Philadelphia and London, 1990); J.D. Crossan, Four Other Gospels (Minneapolis, 1985); J.D.
Crossan, "The Cross That Spoke. The Earliest Narrative of the Passion and Resurrection," FORUM 312 (1987) 3-12; J.D. Crossan, The Cross That Spoke. The Origins of
the Passion Narrative (San Francisco, 1988). See my criticism of his theory, below,
pp. 161-165.
6
The suggestion of K.A. Strand, "An Overlooked Old-Testament Background to
Rev II :1," Andrews University Seminar Studies 22 (1984) 317-325, to see Lev 16 against
the background of Rev 11:1 has been rightly rejected by D. Aune, Revelation (3 vols;
Word Biblical Commentary 52A--C; Nashville [Tenn.}, 1997-1998), vol. 2, p. 604, as too
subtle and imprecise.
147
influenced the Christian text? What function does Yom Kippur have in the
Christian text? What is the historical Sitz im Leben of this text?
The investigation is structured in the following way: The first four sections deal with the typological passages, those that compare Jesus to (I)
certain animals (sacrificial goat, scapegoat) of the Yom Kippur temple rite,
(2) its central sacrificer (the high priest), (3) its central cultic object (the
kapporet; lA.ao<~ptov) and (4) its aim (lA.ao~i><;). The fifth section briefly
discusses the theses of scholars who link two early Christian hymns to the
ritual of Yom Kippur. The final section places these investigations in historical context and provides a synthesis.
L Christ and the Scapegoat: Barnabas, Matthew and Galatians

The imagery of the scapegoat rite of Yom Kippur had a tremendous impact
on the development of the early narratives and interpretations of Jesus'
death. The Epistle of Barnabas explicitly compares Jesus' Passion and
Parousia to the scapegoat and the sacrificial goat. Implicit allusions are
probably behind the scapegoat in the Barabbas episode of Matthew 27:1523 and behind Galatians 3:10.13. The scapegoat probably influenced also
the "Lamb of God" in John 1:29 and the Christological interpretation of
the suffering servant in I Peter 2:24. Here, an influence, if any, can be discerned only through a very wide understanding of the scapegoat rite and
the Mediterranean rite of the pharmakos as catalysts.
I will refer also to the theories of two other scholars who attributed an
especially strong influence to the scapegoat. John Crossan claims that the
imagery of the scapegoat rite influenced an earlier form of the Gospel of
Peter that was the source for all canonical passion accounts. 7 And according to A.H. Wratislaw, all four canonical versions of the Barabbas episode
were influenced by the scapegoat rite. 8
The section proceeds from the explicit to the implicit. I start (1.1) with a
discussion of Barnabas and its proto-typology and an excursus on Crossan's theory; an analysis of Matthew 27:15-23 follows (1.2); then comes
an excursus on the pharmakos and an interpretation of Galatians 3-4 (1.3);
and the section ends with an investigation of those passages in which there
are few traces of the scapegoat rite's influence: John 1:29 and !Peter 2:2224 (1.4). The first two cover the passages that come closest to being narratives, while the last three refer to theologoumena.
7
8

See pp. 165-171, below.
1.1 The Tradition ofBamabas
The Epistle of Barnabas has a special place in this inquiry, since it interprets, extensively and in depth, the link between Jesus' death and Yom
9
Kippur It is no surprise that Bultmann chose the typologies of Barnabas
and Hebrews as the foremost examples of early Christian mythology. 10 No
other text better exemplifies the crisis of the scandal of a messiah s death
on the cross and the central role of typological interpretation in overcoming this calamity. Unfortunately, the central questions of authorship, place
and time are points of controversy. 11 Some of the historical implications
therefore remain hypothetical. Yet, since the Christian myth is still typological exegesis, not yet a narrative, its form points to an early time of
composition, earlier than the earliest Passion Narrative (i.e. before 65).
According to Helmut Koester, Barnabas 7 reflects the earliest stage of
9
In recent years, Barnabas has been intensively studied. See R. Hvalvik, The
Struggle for Scripture and Covenant. The Purpose ofthe Epistle ofBarnabas and JewishChristian Competition in the Second Century (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum
Neuen Testament, second series 82; {tibingen, 1996); J. Carleton Paget, The Epistle of
Barnabas. Outlook and Background (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen
Testament, second series 64; Tilbingen, 1994); W. Horbury, "Jewish-Christian Relations
in Barnabas and Justin Martyr," in: J.D.G. Dunn (ed.), Jews and Christians: The Parting
of the Ways A.D. 70 to /35 (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
first series 66; Tfibingen, 1992; pp. 315-345); K. Wengst, Tradition und Theologie des
Barnabasbriefes (Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 42; Berlin, New York, 1971);
P. Prigent, Le! testimonia dans le christianisme primitif. L 'ipitre de Barnabi I-XVI et
ses sources (Etudes Bibliques 47; Paris, 1961); the commentaries by H. Windisch, Die
apostolischen Vater Ill. Der Barnabasbrief(Handbuch zum Neuen Testament, Erglinzungsband; Tiibingen, 1920); P. Prigent and R.A. Kraft (eds., transls.), Epitre de Barnabi
(SC 172; Paris, 1971); K. Wengst (ed.), Didache (Aposte/lehre), Barnabasbrief, Zweiter
Klemensbrief, Schrift an Diognet. Eingeleitet, herausgegeben, iibertragen und erliiutert
(Schriften des Urchristentums 2; Dannstadt,. 1984); and now also F.R. Prostmeier, Der
Barnabasbrief Obersetzt und erldiirt (Kommentar zu den Apostolischen VAtem 8; GC>ttingen, 1999), pp. 285-317. Prostmeier's impressive commentary is excellent for the
Greek passages, but suffers from unfortunate errors on Hebrew matters and on Jewish
sources (e.g. p. 308 and note 37).
10
Bultmann, "Mythos und Mythologie IV (im NT)," here p. 1279.
11
Carleton Paget, The Epistle of Barnabas, dates Barnabas to early in Nerva's time
(pp. 27-28), preferring Alexandria without ruling out other places in Syria/Palestine and
Asia Minor (pp. 36-42). Hvalvik, The Struggle for Scripture and Covenant, pp. 70-190,
gives a broader range of time and does not specify any place. Prostmeier, Der Barnabasbriej, pp. 111-119, prefers Alexandria in the years 130-131 CE. On the setting of Barnabas, see also Horbury, "Jewish-Christian Relations in Barnabas and Justin Martyr."
Some misunderstandings and distortions preclude the conclusion that the author of Barnabas was himself a halakhic expert, i.e. a rabbi, a priest or the Levite Barnabas. Prigent
and Hvalvik suppose he was a Gentile writing for Gentiles.
Yom Kippur Imagery in the Early Christian Imaginaire
.
.
149
~~~:-
t ~
Christian (Jewish) attempts to develop a narrative of Jesus' death with the

help of exegesis.
<>.---
One can assume that the only historical information about Jesus' suffering, crucifixion, and death was that he was condemned to death by Pilate and crucified. The
details and individual scenes of the narrative do not rest on historical memory, but
were developed on the basis of an allegorical interpretation of Scripture. The earliest stage and, at the same time, the best example of such scriptural interpretation
is preserved in the Epistle of Barnabas. 12
Koester is countered by such scholars as Douglas Moo, Joel Green and

Raymond Brown, who argue that the impact of exegetical-liturgical creativity on the invention of "facts" in the earliest Passion narratives was
minimal. 13
The interpretation of Yom Kippur in Barnabas 7 appears in the first part
(chapters 2-16), which starts by elaborating the futility of the Jewish cult
of sacrifice and fasting (chapters 2-3) and continues with a number of interpretations of the Passion (chapters 5-6). The suffering of the messiah is
also the topic of chapters 7 and 8, which give a typological interpretation
of the goats of Yom Kippur and the Red Heifer. Yet while the common
topic connects chapters 5-8, the perspective and method of exegesis
change as between chapters 1-6 and 7-8. In chapters 1-6, Barnabas has
used various Old Testament prooftexts to expound on a single theme. In
chapters 7 and 8, he uses a single prototype from the Jewish temple on
which to base a broad Christological exegesis. In chapters 1-6, Barnabas
argues from the books of the Bible; in chapters 7 and 8, he draws on rituals
as text-like, interpretable units, aIa Clifford Geertz. This is highly remarkable. since the use of post- or un-biblical Jewish tradition endows the Jewish cultic and literal interpretation of the Bible with prophetic qualities,
and this stands in direct opposition to Barnabas' anti-Jewish hermeneutics,
which repudiate attaching any soteriological significance to Israel. 14 On
12
Koester, Ancient Christian Gospels, p. 224.

D.J. Moo, The Old Testament in the Gospel Passion Narratives (Sheffield, 1983);
J.B. Green, "The Gospel of Peter: Source for a pre-canonical Passion Narrative?," Zeitschrift fiir die neutestamentliche Wissenschafi und die Kunde der ii/teren Kirche 78
(1987) 293-301; idem, The Death of Jesus. Tradition and Interpretation in the Passion
Narrative (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, second series 33;
Tfibingen, 1988); R.E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah. From Gethsemane to the Grave
(The Anchor Bible Reference Library; New York, 1994).
I4 On the hermeneutics of Barnabas, see Hvalvik, The Struggle for Scripture and
Covenant, pp. 103-131; Horbury, "Jewish-Christian Relations in Barnabas and Justin
Martyr"; and Prigent and Kraft, .Epitre de Barnabi, pp. 30-33. Contrary to Paul or Hebrews, for Barnabas the people of Israel lost their covenant already with the golden calf
at Mount Sinai. Barnabas maintains that the authority of the Bible is timeless and
13
~
..
' r
this basis, the primary investigators of Barnabas' traditions, Pierre Prigent,
Robert Kraft, and, more recently, James Carleton Paget, concluded that
Barnabas implemented an already existing typology. 15 I call this preBarnabian typology the "proto-typology" to distinguish it from the extant
typology in Barnabas. Use of this proto-typology is attested in Justin
Martyr, Tertullian, Hippolytus and perhaps some later exegetes, a point
that will be investigated below.
1.1.1 The First Picture (Barnabas 7 :3-5)
Barnabas 7 contains two distinct pictures, with minor digressions, which

are constructed as question and answer like a catechesis: 16 Why did X happen?- In order to prophecy Y. The first picture starts with a goat, which is
sacrificed on Yom Kippur for all the sins (7:4a). While the people mourn
and fast, the priests alone eat this goat, "tmwashed with vinegar." This
goat, most probably the third goat sacrificed for the sins, had to be eaten
by the priests. 17 The preparation with vinegar, however, is not mentioned
elsewhere. 18
unchanging, a literal interpretation of 'the commandments regarding the tabernacle and
the sacrificial cult has never been correct. The construction of the temple and the maintenance of its sacrificial cult were a misinterpretation. The only function of the Old Testament is to prophesy the advent of the messiah. The typologies of Barnabas differ therefore from the usual concept of typology, in that the question of the historicity of the
prototype is completely irrelevant. Even if the prototype may in some instances be considered historically, its only significance lies in its prophetic dimension.
IS Prigent, Les testimonia dans le christianisme primitif, pp. 99-110; R.A. Kraft, "The
Epistle of Barnabas: Its Quotations and Their Sources," (Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard
University, 1961) (non vidf); Prigent and Kraft, Epitre de Barnabe on this verse; and
Carleton Paget, The Epistle of Barnabas, pp. 138-140. See also 0. Skarsaune, The Proof
from Prophecy (Supplements to Novum Testamentum 56; Leiden, 1987), 307-313.
Countering their approach, Wengst, Tradition und Theologie des Barnabasbriefes, suggests a school tradition, but he neglects the disparity of attitudes among the various traditions. James Carleton Paget combines both theses, elaborating the creative theology of
the compiler Barnabas.
16
On Barnabas 7, see Carleton Paget, The Epistle of Barnabas, pp. 134-140; Prigent,
Les testimonia dans le christianisme primitif, pp. 99-IIO; Wengst, Tradition und
Theologie des Barnabasbriefes, pp. 29-32; Crossan, The Cross That Spoke, pp. 115-233;
and the commentaries, e.g. Prostmeier. However, the important article by Alon, ''The
Halakhah in the Epistle of Barnabas," appears in Prostmeier's bibliography, but not in
his exposition of Barnabas 7. Also, Prostmeier notes similarities to the Gospel of Peter,
but he does not refer to the important implications of Crossan's thesis.
17
Num 29:11; mMenah 11:7 and Philo, De specialibus legibus 1:190 (lectio difficilior), seep. 32 note 77, above.
18
Cf. the suggestions by Windisch and by Prigent, Les testimonia dans le christianisme primitif, p. 102, referring to the paschal lamb.
151
3 a But moreover when he was crucified he was given to drink vinegar and gall
19
(OI;et Kai :x;oA1)). 3b Listen how the priests of the temple foretold this. Despite the
fact that a commandment was written that ''whosoever does not keep the fast shall
die the death," [cf. Lev 23:29] 3c the Lord commanded this (i.e. to eat), be.cause ~e
himself was going to offer the vessel of the spirit as a sacrifice for our sm~, ld m
order that the type established in Isaac, who was offered upon the altar, mtght be
fulfilled. 4a What then does he say in the Prophet? "And let them eat of the goat
which is offered in the fast for all their sins." 4b Attend carefully,- "and let all the
priests alone eat the entrails urrwashed with vinega': (CbtAutOv _J.le"t0: Ol;o-u<;)."
sa Why? Because you are going to give to me gall and vmegar to drink when I am
on the point of offering my flesh for my new people, therefore you alone shall eat,
while the people fast and mourn in sackcloth and ashes. Sb To show that he must
suffer by them. 20
The following table demonstrates the corresponding elements of the

typology
Cultic Drototvoe
3b Whosoever does not keep the fast
shall die the death,
4 And let them eat of the goat which is
offered in the fast for all their sins....
And let all the priests alone eat the
entrails urrwashed with vinevar.
4 And let them eat of the goat which is
offered in the fast for all their sins.
... And let all the priests alone eat the
entrails unwashed with vine2.ar.
4 And let them eat ofthe goat which is
offered in the fast for all their sins ....
And let all the priests alone eat the
entrails unwashed with vinegar.
4 And let them eat of the 2.oat which is
Christian Mvth
Death of Jesus
Jesus drinks vinegar and ga/P.1
Jesus' death as vicarious atonement
Eating ofJesus' flesh, most probably

the Eucharist22
and/or not fasting on Yom Kippur
EatinR o-;,N bv the new fnriesdvl
I9 The adversative meaning of the Genitivus Absolutus was rightly remarked by

Wengst, Didache (Apostellehre), Barnabasbrief, Zweiter Klemensbr!ef. Schrifi an Diognet; and Prostmeier, Der Barnabasbrief, in their commentaries on thts verse. .
.
2.0 Slightly adapted transI. of K.irsopp Lake in LCL; I made use of the Greek m Prigent
and Kraft, Epitre de Barnabe.
ll This typology agrees with its prototype only under the condition that the un-:vashed
status of the entrails implies that they still contain the gall: see L. Helin, ~tud1en. zur
typo/ogischen Schrifiauslegung im zweiten Jahrhundert. Barnabas und Justm (Hetd~l
berg, 1971), p. 12 (non vidi), quoted in Wengst, Didache (Aposte/lehre), Barnaba~bne[.
Zweiter Klemensbrief, Schrift an Diognet, p. 199, note 118. The same strong alluston to
Ps 69 (68):22 is contained only in the Gospel of Peter 5:16.
n This conclusion is drawn also by Carleton Paget, The Epistle of Barnabas, P 136,
and Prigent, Les testimonia dans le christianisme primitif, pp. 109-110. See the
interpretation ofTertullian, below, pp. 156-158.
offered in the fast for all their sins.
... And let all the priests alone eat the
entrails unwashed with vinegar.
5a Fastin!l and mourning by the people
people, i.e. the Christians
'
1.1.2 The Second Picture (Barnabas
7:6-11)
The second picture (7:6-11) identifies Jesus with the scapegoat and with
the sin-offering goat which is mixed up with the sacrificial goat The comparison is one-sided, since the typology of the scapegoat is of much greater
import.
Notice what was commanded: "Take two goats, beautiful and similar, and offer
them, and let the priest take the one as a burnt offering for sins." 6b(7J But what are
they to do with the other? "The other," he says, "is accursed (ix1Ka-c6:pa-c~)."
7 Notice how the type of Jesus is manifested: Sa "And do ye all spit (11 x-c00an) on
it, and pierce (Ka"taKev-cijoa-ce) it, and bind the scarlet wool (-cO ptov -cO K0ntvov)
about is head, and so let it be cast into the desert. sb And when it is so done, he
who takes the goat into the wilderness, drives it forth, and takes away the wool,
6a
23
Gospel of Peter 7:25-27; Luke 23:48.

)t interrupts the flow of the text, and the question in 7:4a continues the atoning
death theme of 7:3c. The Aqedah could be dropped without causing a break. The text
would then be: "The Lord commanded this because he himself was going to offer the
vessel of the spirit as a sacrifice for our sins. 4a What then does he say in the Prophet?
And let them eat of the goat which is offered in the fast for all their sins.'"' Also, the
Aqedah does not appear in the other witnesses to thepre-Barnabian tradition. However, it
may have been the author of Barnabas who inserted it into his tradition, and not a later
interpolator. Even ifTertullian is dependent on Barnabas, he had good reason to skip this
line, which disturbs the flow.
25
Seep. 129, above, especiaily note 272.
153
and puts it upon a shrub which is called Rachel, 26 of which we are accustomed to
eat the shoots when we fmd them in the countryside: thus only the fruits of Rachel
are sweet."9a What does this mean? Notice, "that the first (goat) is for the altar, but
the other is accursed, and that the one that is accursed is crowned." 9b Because
then they will see him on that day with the scarlet (high-priestly) robe (noOtlpTJ) on
his body, and they will say, Is not this he whom we once crucified and rejected
(l;ouEievr]oa.vn:10) and pierced and spat upon? Truly, it was he who then said that he
himself was the Son of God." toa But how is he like (to the goat)? For this reason:
"the goats shall be similar, beautiful, and equal (O~oiou10 -coW; -cpcl:)'OU\0 Kat u~oiK;.
ioo~)," in order that when they see him come at that time they may be astonished
at the similarity of the goat. tob See then the type of Jesus destined to suffer.
!Ia But why is it that they put the wool in the middle of the thorns (itKaverov)? It is
a type of Jesus placed in the Church, because whoever wishes to take away the
scarlet wool must suffer much because the thorns are terrible and he can gain it
only through pain. lib Thus he says, <those who will see me, and attain to my
kingdom must lay hold of me through pain and suffering.'m
FastiQg_by the old oeoole i.e. Jews2J
The eating of the flesh of the goat by the priests

i.e. probably the
Eucharist - has a twofold function here. On the one haod, it commemorates the atoning effect of Jesus death as a sin offering, thus fulfilling the
function of Yom Kippur. On the other hand, it distinguishes the identity of
Barnabas' priestly conunwrity, which eats the Eucharist, from that of the
fasting people (Jews), which does not. This picture would be impossible if
Barnabas' community (still) observed the fast of Yom Kippur. We can,
therefore, understand this passage as a polemic against Jews or Christian
Jews observing Yom Kippur. This impression is confirmed by the name
Barnabas uses for Yom Kippur, "the fasf' and not "the Day of Atonement," as would be appropriate for a typology of the temple ritual).
The reference to the Aqedab (7:3d) looks like an interpolation into an
earlier tradition. 24 Nevertheless, it is important, being one of the few early
links between Yom Kippur and the Aqedab. 25
24
The typology is again best grasped in a table:

Christian Myth
{9a the first (goat) is for the altar}
(refers back to the previous typology
of the sin-offering goat and vicarious
atonement)
6b The other is accursed (E.?tuca:rO.pa:to<;) 9b Is not this he whom we once
&a And do ye all spit (iJltr<iiGare) on it,
crucified (E.o'taupffioalJ.ev) and
and goad it (KamKsvrrjaacs), and bind
rejected (E.~ouaevi]oavn:<;) and
the scarlet wool about its head, and so let pierced (Ka<aKsvcrjaavcc;) and spat
uoon ( &utrrtlaavcs~)?
it be cast into the desert.
9a But the other is accursed, and the one 9b Because then they will see him on
that is accursed is crowned ...
that day with the long scarlet
(priestly) robe on his bo~ ..
6a Take two goats, beautiful and similar,
1Oa in order that when they see him
come at that time they may be
and offer them, ...
lOa The goats shall be similar, beautiful, astonished at the similarity of the
goat.
and~al.
lla It is a type of Jesus placed in the
&b And when it is so done, he who takes
the goat into the wilderness, drives it
Church, because whoever wishes to
take away the scarlet wool must suffer
forth, and takes away the wool, and puts
it upon a shrub which is called Rachel, of much because the thorns are terrible
which we are accustomed to eat the
and he can gain it only through pain.
shoots when we find them in the country: 11 b Thus he says, "Those who will
see me, and attain to my kingdom
thus of Rachel alone is the fruit sweet.
must lay hold of-me through pain and
suffering."
Cultic prototyp!!
6a Take two goats, beautiful and similar,
and offer them, and let the priest take the
one as a burnt offering for sins.
26
27
There are many variant readings for this word.

Slightly altered translation by Lake in LCL, based on SC.
T
I
Barnabas compares Jesus' way of suffering to that of the scapegoat. The

goat is accursed (Emx:a'titpatoc;), which reflects Jesus being cursed by
dying on the cross. 28 Both suffer the same torments - spitting and piercing.29 The scarlet wool placed on the scapegoat's head represents the highpriestly scarlet robe of Christ at his Second Parousia.
The role of the sacrificial goat is marginal. Its sole significance lies in
its similarity to the scapegoat, through which it will be recognized at the
Second Parousia as identical to the one sacrificed. Here the author seems
to have mixed two recognition motifs: by the scarlet robe and by similarity30
The end of the chapter is an ecclesiological typology of the scarlet wool
placed in the thorny shrub, which refers to the suffering and martyrdom of
those who choose to follow Jesus. The scarlet wool therefore connects
Yom Kippur, the atoning death of Jesus, martyrdom and the future
kingdom.
As can be seen from the table, some of the details of the cultic prototype
mentioned in the typology are not connected explicitly to a specific
element of the Passion narrativet On the one hand, the presence of uninterpreted cultic elements - such as the fact that the goats have to be x:aAoi demonstrates that Barnabas did not invent his cultic knowledge in order to
match his interpretation. In some instances, such uninterpreted cultic
elements may mean that their interpretation was assumed to be self-evident
to educated readers and they were therefore "included implicitly." The
more obvious an association, the slighter the allusion can be. For example,
the curse of the goat is uninterpreted, but the crucifixion of Christ also
does not have a prototype. Both are "loose ends," most probably presuming that the readers knew the connection between curse and cross and the
interpretation of Deuteronomy 21:23 and 27:26. Another example is the
casting of the scapegoat into the desert, which could easily have been
interpreted by Jesus' suffering on Golgotha, outside of the city, as in
Hebrews and Hippolytus, an interpretation not mentioned by Barnabas.
Moreover, Barnabas does not exploit the death of the scapegoat, although
this would have stressed the proximity to Jesus. Perhaps the way the
28
Cf. Deut 21:23 and 27:26; and Gal3:10.13. Barnabas most probably did not know
Galatians: see note 93, p. 164, below.
29
This is reflected in the parallel use Sp.rrciioa:re I E:p.x-rVouvre~ and KU"!:UKevrtloa-re I
Ka-raxev-rtloavre~ for Jesus and the scapegoat.
30
Prigent has suggested that Barnabas mixes two typologies, one of which can be
found in Justin (Passion plus Parousia) and the other in Tertullian (Passion plus
Eucharist). Tertullian also mentions both typologies, but his depiction is clearer.
I
I
ISS
scapegoat met its death - by being hurled over a precipice - was too
dissimilar from Jesus' form of death on the cross. Nevertheless. pagan and
Jewish readers knew that the scapegoatlpharmakos had to die, as Jesus did.
But, probably for the same reason that his readers presumed this anyhow,
Barnabas does not choose to explicitly connect such notions as vicarious
atonement to the picture of Yom Kippur.
1.1.3 The Interpretation of the Proto-Typology in Justin, Tertullian and
Hippolytus
The following analysis heads simultaneously in two directions on the time
scale: chronologically forward to the interpretations of Barnabas' tradition
in the second century, and chronologically backward to the proto-typology,
Barnabas' source. History of impact and history of tradition will then complement each other.
JUSTIN: Justin refers to the typology in his Dialogue with Trypho, a work
written around 160. 31 In the context of chapter 40, Trypho asks Justin for
proofs that Jesus was the Messiah, who had to suffer and is expected to
return gloriously (39). Justin answers with a typological exegesis of the
Passover sacrifice (40) and the goats of Yom Kippur (40) and continues
with typologies on the shewbread as Eucharist (41) and the twelve bells on
the high-priestly vestment as apostles (42).
And the two goats of the fast were ordered to be similar. One of them was the
scapegoat (O.nonop.naioc;), the other was to be an offering. They were prophecies
for the two appearances (11po1.101{0v) of Christ. For the ftrst appearance, at which
the elders of your [Jewish] people and the priests sent him away as a scapegoat,
laid hands on him and killed him; and for his second appearance, since you will
recognize at this very place of Jerusalem him who was dishonored by you and
[made] an offering for all those sinners who want to repent and fast what Isaiah
calls a fast and tear asunder the strangling of enforced contracts [Isaiah 58:6}, and
observe the other things that are similar to those that have been reckoned by him,
which also I myself inquired about, [and] those things that the believers in Jesus
do. s And know that even the offering of the two goats, which had to be offered on
the fast, similarly took place nowhere except in JerusalemP 2
40:4
Justin's Yom Kippur typology is clearly more concise than that in Barnabas, better organized and less ambiguous. The reference to the two appearances of Christ is unmistakable, and the typology gives equal attention
31
32
On Justin and Judaism, see Skarsaune, The Prooffrom Prophecy.
My translation of Dialogue with Trypho 40:4-5; Greek text in M. Marcovich (ed.),

lustini Martyris Dialogus cum Tryphone (Patristische Texte und Studien 47; Berlin, New
York, 1997). Justin refers back to this typology in Dialogue with Trypho 46:2 and Ill: 1.
Dialogue with Trypho 15 includes a long passage from Isa 58 on the fast.
to both goats. The scapegoat refers only to the Passion, the sacrificial goat
to the Second Parousia. Some motifs from Barnabas are missing, e.g. the
eating of the goat and the scarlet wool. Apparently, Justin's text is not a
reworking of Barnabas but depends directly on the proto-typology. This is
shown, for example, by the reference to the death of the scapegoat, a fact
Justin could not have learnt from the Bible or from Barnabas, but only
from Jewish tradition. 33 Justin explicitly interprets the theological implications of the sacrificial goat typology of Christ as vicarious atonement for
all sinners. This is somewhat strange considering the association of the
scapegoat, not the sacrificial goat, with the Passion. The reference to Jerusalem as merely a sacrificial place is a favorite idea of Justin's and was
therefore most probably inserted by him. 34 Furthermore, Justin refers to
Isaiah 58 in the context of Yom Kippur and is the earliest text to do so.
Was Isaiah 58:6 already part of the Jewish Haftarah, at least in some synagogues?35 Finally, compared to Barnabas, Justin inverts the role of the
priests and the fasting. The priests are the evil faction, 36 whereas the people who fast are counted among the repenting believers. Yet Justin underscores that these believers fast a real fast - i.e. one of the kind Isaiah described and not one according to the common Jewish practice - a fact
suggesting that this reference is not only a typology of past rituals but also
a jibe at the observance of Yom Kippur's fast .by Justin's Jewish and Jewish-Christian neighbors.
TERTULLIAN: In Against Marcion, the Yom Kippur tradition (3:7:7-8) is
part of a long complex of Christological typologies of the Old Testament."
The same passage also appears, almost word for word, in Against the
Jews 14:9-10. Both works were written in the first decades of the third
century, and most scholars agree that the two are mutually dependent; but
they disagreee as to which of the two deserves priority. 38 For our purposes,
this dispute is less relevant.
In both books Tertullian's aim is to prove that Jesus is the Messiah of
the Old Testament. While Marcion argues that Jesus could not be theMessiah of the Old Testament because the Jews, the experts in understanding
the Old Testament, still expect the glorious coming of a Messiah, Tertul33
See all commentators besides Wengst.

Skarsaune, The Prooffrom Prophecy, p. 310.
35 Cf. Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 15; and see the section on the readings, above,
pp. 54-59, especially p. 55-56.
36 Do the elders in this context reflect an oral tradition similar to Matt 27:20?
37
Tertu1lian, Against Marcion 3:5-24.
38 H. Trlinkle (ed.), Edition de QSF Tertul/iani Aduersus Iudaeos (Wiesbaden, 1964),
pp. xlix-liii, favors the priority of Against the Jews, dating it before 207/8.
34
!57
!ian claims that the Messiah carne and died in a humble way, but that he
will come again, gloriously.
If I may, moreover, give an interpretation of the two goats, which were offered on
the fast, do they not also prefigure the two modes of Christ? They were alike
(pares), and very similar (consimi/es) to the appearance of the Lord, since he will
not come in any other fo1111, having to be recognized by those by whom he had
been wounded (laesus est).
One of these [goats], however, was bound with scarlet (circumdatus coccino),
cursed (maledictus), spat upon (consputatus), pulled around (conuulsus), and
pierced (compunctus), and driven by the people out of the city into perdition
(perditionem), being thus marked with the visible signs of the Lord's passion.3'1
Yet the other [goat]. by being offered up for sins and given to the priests of the
temple for food (pabulum), signified indications of the second appearance, whenafter all sins have been expiated- the priests of the spiritual temple, i.e. the church
-feast as a sort of flesh offering (quasi uisceratione) of the Lord's grace, while the
others fast from40 salvation. 41
The identity of a humble and then glorious Messiah is proven for Tertullian by the similarity of the two goats. The maltreated, expelled scapegoat
represents the Passion of Jesus; the sacrificial goat, eaten by the priests,
symbolizes simultaneously the eschatological meal at the Second Parousia
as well as its ritual anticipation, the Eucharist 42 Like Barnabas, Tertullian
polemicizes against participation in the Jewish fast and enjoins participation in the Christian Eucharist instead. Ritual, here, has the function of defming the borders of the collective.
Tertnllian certainly knew Justin's writings and used them. However,
scholarship is divided over the question of whether Tertullian was acquainted with Barnabas or with the proto-typology. Their typologies are
39
The parallel tradition in Against the Jews 14:9 adds: "qui coccinea circumdatus
ueste et consputatus et omnibus contumeliis adflictus extra ciuitatem crucifixus est."
40
An important manuscript of the parallel tradition in Against the Jews 14:9 reads "ad
salutem" ("for salvation") instead of "a salute," as given in Against Marcion. The latter
matches the context better, the former may have entered the text through a scribe in
Tertullian's rigoristic tradition.
41
My translation of the text from R. Braun (ed.), Tertu//ien Contre Marcion. Tome III
(Livre III) (SC 399; Paris, 1994). On this passage, and its relation to Barnabas and Justin,
see the notes in the text editions and the discussions in Windisch, Die aposto/ischen
Viiter Ill. Der Barnabasbrief, pp. 346-347; Prigent, Les testimonia dans /e christianisme
primitif, pp. 107-108; and Carleton Paget, The Epistle of Barnabas, pp. 138-140; A.
Louf, "Caper emissarius ut typus Redemptoris apud Patres," Verbum Domini 38 (1960)
262-277, here pp. 265-270, and Crossan, The Cross That Spoke, pp. 131-133.
42
See V.A. Gramaglia, "Visceratio: semantica eucaristica in Tertulliano?," in: F.
Vattioni (ed.), Sangue e antropologica nella teologia. Atti della VI settimana, Roma 2328 nov. 1987 (Rome, 1989; vol. 3, pp. 1385-1417), p. 1416, who investigated the
collective, sacrificial and eschatological connotations of this pagan technical term.
very similar and the relevant differences are few in number. 43 Trankle
assumes that Tertullian knew Barnabas. Against this, Prigent and (more
hesitantly) Carleton Paget argne that Tertullian is based on the prototypology and on Justin. 44 We carmot exclude a third possibility - that
Tertullian knew all three- the proto-typology, Justin and Barnabas.
HIPPOLYTUS: Hippolytus of Rome (d. 235) was one of the most prolific
Christian authors of his time. A fragment in the Catenae on Proverbs contains his interpretation of Proverbs 30:31 b (LXX), which views "the goat
leading the flock" simultapeously as sacrificial goat and as scapegoat, and
both as types of Christ:''
And a goat as leader of the flock
Since, it says, this is
who was slaughtered for the sins of the world
and offered as a sacrifice
and sent away to the Gentiles as in the desert
and crowned with scarlet wool on the bead by the unbelievers
and made to be a ransom for the humans
and manifested as life for all. 46
The mention of the "scarlet wool" (K6Knvov pwv) makes very plausible
that it is a variety of the Yom Kippur typology known to Barnabas, Justin
and Tertullian; however, the poetic form and the brevity of the fragment
render an exact comparison difficult. Two elements of the interpretation
43
Tertullian has two further details: (a) conuulsus (torn/pulled); and (b) the mention
of perditio as the destination of the scapegoat. Tertul1ian lacks two other elements: (a) an
interpretation of the scarlet ribbon (the ribbon itself is included); and (b) details of the
Eucharist (wtwashed entrails with vinegar). Finally, Tertullian inverts the order of
presentation (frrst Passion/scapegoat, then Parousia/Eucharistlsacrificial goat).
44
Trankle, Edition de QSF Tertul/iani Aduersus Iudaeos, pp. Ixxvi-lxxxii; Prigent,
Les testimonia dans le christianisme primitif, p. 108; and Carleton Paget, The Epistle of
Barnabas, pp. 139-140.
45
Hippolytus, fragment 75. The first to connect this passage to the Yom Kippur
typology was A. Zani, "Tracce di un'interessante, rna sconosciuta, esegesi midra~ica giudeo-cristiana di Lev 16 in un frammento di ippolito," Bibbia e Oriente 24 (1982) 157166, whose perceptive article escaped the meticulous bibliographical reseirches of
Carleton Paget and Hvalvik.
46
My translation of Kai rpfiro-; T'JroVpevt}f; abro?.iov. C>Utoo; yir.p, G'TJGi.v. to:tiv 0 Umlp
CtJiapriao; ~eOo:llou mpaysio; ~eai cbo; auJ.la n:poo:axasio; Kai cbo; tpiu.u:p sio; EaVT) TCSJ.lcp8sio; ~eo.i K6JCKtvov Eptov En:i KSqlaAi]v intO -rd'lv Un:i.o:-rrov o:-rscpavroaEio; ~eai a.vapcOn:rov Aittpov ysvVT)asi<; ~eai
l;roi] n:O.v-rrov Ostx_Bsi<;. Text in M. Richard, "Les fragments du commentaire deS. Hippolyte
sur les Proverbes de Salomon," Le Museon 19 (1966) 65-94, here p. 94. Cf. also the
shorter version preserved in Pseudo-Anastasius: Tpityoo; itroi!J.Lsvoo; ain:oi..i.ou 0 inttp -rd'lv
O.J.Lapud'lv -roii KOcrJ!Oil cr cpaytacr8Ei<; (quoted ibidem). The same tradition is also printed
under the name ofChrysostom, Fragmenta in Prouerbia (PG 64:737C-D).
!59
are not found in Barnabas, Justin or Tertullian and may from the pen of
Hippolytus himself: (a) the explanation of the scapegoat as ransom for
humankind; and (b) the sending away as the mission to the Gentiles. 47 As
in Hebrews 13:11-13 the "sending away" is based on an inversion of the
conception that abandoning the camp entails ritual pollution. In the new
epoch of salvation history, salvation is no longer inside the camp but in the
previously impure desert among the previously impure Gentiles.
THE PROTO-TYPOLOGY AND ITS INTERPRETATION OF YOM KIPPUR: After
this brief survey of the history of the proto-typology's impact, I want to
return to its pre-history. A reconstruction of the extent and content of the
Christian Jewish proto-typology brings us back to an earlier period, before
the composition of Barnabas. Barnabas refers to a source that its author
calls "the prophet." Another reference to a source may be entailed in the
expression "the priests of the temple foretold this.'>48
It is relatively easy to reconstruct the elements of the (Jewish) halakhic
regulations for the ritual, which were part also of the Christian Jewish
proto-typology. Since acquaintance with halakhic traditions is more likely
for the Christian Jewish proto-typology than for later generations, those
elements that go beyond Leviticus 16 and exist in later Halakhah are most
probably ancient. 49 If this supposition holds, then the following elements
form parts of the proto-typology:
a) the similarity between the goats50
b) their beautiful appearance51
c) the mistreatment of the scapegoat52
d) the cursing of the scapegoat"
e) the killing of the scapegoat54
f) the red woolen ribbon placed on the scapegoat's head55
47 The former comes from Mark 10:45. The idea of Christ the scapegoat being sent on
a mission to the Gentiles appears in Origen, Homily on Leviticus 9:3:2 (SC 287:80-82);
cf. also the positive interpretation of the desert in Homily on Leviticus 9:4:1 (SC 287:84).
48 Barnabas 7:4a and 7:3b; but 7:3b is a much more ambiguous phrase and could refer
to the content of the sentence rather than its speakers.
49 See especially Alon, "The Halakhah in the Epistle of Barnabas," pp. 302-305.
so Barnabas 7:6a.10a; Justin, Tertullian; mYoma 6:1.
~ 1 Barnabas1:6a;yYoma6:1,43bc.
52
Barnabas 7:8a (spitting and piercing); Tertullian (spitting, piercing, pulling
around); mYoma 6:6 (pulling hair). Zech 12: I 0; Isa 50:6 and Gospel of Peter 5: 16.
53 Barnabas 7:6b(7).9a; Gal3:10.l3; mYoma 6:4.
54 Justin; mYoma 6:6; cf. Tertullian (driven into perdition).
~~ Barnabas 7:8a; Tertullian; Hippolytus; mYoma 4:2.
g) before pushing the scapegoat over the precipice, the ribbon is put on
something else 56
h) the eating of the sin-offering goat, probably in a special manner"
In addition, elements in one or two traditions, which appear in the biblical
descriptions, are probably part of.the proto-typology:
i) the offering of the sacrificial goat58
j) the sending out of the scapegoat59
k) the fasting of the people 60
Perhaps the motif of the people's mourning, which is missing in the Bible,
but appears in some early Jewish traditions, was also part of the prototypology.61
In addition, a reference to Zechariah 3 seems to have been part of the
proto-typology62 Barnabas mentions the higb priest's Jto(itjpT]c; appearing
in Zechariah 3. 63 Tertnllian interprets Zechariah 3 extensively in direct
juxtaposition to the Yom Kippur passage. Justin knows it as well. 64 An
association of Zechariah 3 and Yom Kippur also exists in Jewish (nonChristian) sources. 65 As we shall see, this point is extremely important to
understand the earliest stage of the high-priestly Christology. 66
It is more difficult to determine the interpretations that the Christian
Jewish proto-typology connected to the halakhic regulations of Yom Kippur, since the interpretations of Barnabas and Justin are very different, and
since Tertullian might be acquainted with Justin and perhaps Barnabas and
therefore not be an independent witness. However, we can be sure that the
link between the abused scapegoat and the Passion was part of the prototypology. The motif of the similarity between the goats was definitely
connected to the Second Parousia, yet it is unclear which goat. 67 The tie
56
Barnabas 7:8b.lla; mYoma 6:6.

Barnabas 7:4b; Tertullian; Num 29:11; mMenah 11:1; De specialibus legibus 1:190
(/ectio difficilior).
58
Lev 16:15; Justin, Tertullian.
59
Lev 16:10.20-22; mYoma 6; Barnabas 8a; Justin, Tertullian.
60
Lev 16:29-34; 23:27-32; Barnabas 7:5a; Justin; Tertullian.
61
Barnabas 7:5a; Justin (repenting, fasting, Isa 58:6); on the mourning, see Jubilees 34; Jonah; and see above, p. 34, note 98.
62
SkarsaWle, The Prooffrom Prophecy, p. 309.
63
Barnabas 7:9.
64
Tertullian, Against Marcion 3:7:8; Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 116-117.
65
66
67
Barnabas seems to link the scapegoat and the red ribbon not only with the Passion
but also with the Second Parousia; Justin clearly refers to the sacrificial goat, while Tertullian may be interpreted as referring to the third, sin-offering goat, which was eaten
(and which according to Halakhah did not have to be similar to the other two).
51
161
between the intriguing consumption of another (speci~ly prepared) goat

d the Eucharist, mentioned by Barnabas and Tertulhan, may belong to
:e original strand, especially ifTertullian is independent of Barnabas. Beuse the proto-typology shows an intimate knowledge of the details of the
~~apegoat ritual, it is possible that his ;ource used an eyewitness account68
or even an early sort of Seder Avodah. 6
Excursus: Did the Scapegoat Rite Irifluence the Earliest Account of the
Passion? John D. Crossan's Thesis
In his ingenious and highly controversial "The Cross Spoke" (1988), John Dominic Crossan implies that the scapegoat ritual influenced the canonical Passion narratives, via what
he calls the "Cross Gospel," the earliest Passion account, which he has reconstructed, a
redacted version of which is contained in the Gospel of Peter. 10 According to Crossan's
theory, the fonnation of this Cross Gospel proceeded in four stages.71 The starting p~int
(stage I) is that the community does not know details beyond the general Wlderstandmg
that people are scourged and tortured before _being crucifi~d. This understandi?g is confirmed and further enhanced by such prophetiC texts as Isatah 50:6 and Zechanah 12:10,
which add some details (e.g. striking, spitting, and piercing) to the description of the
Grabbe, "The Scapegoat Tradition," p. 165.

This idea was suggested to me by Timothy Thornton at the 13th Oxford Patristic
Conference 1999. I hesitated for a long time before adopting the suggestion, but it is
difficult to account otherwise for the wealth of precise halakbic regulations in Barnabas.
Similarly, Philo betrays an intriguing acquaintance with the halakhic rules of Yom Kippur. In general, the need to occupy the fasting people with prayers makes some type of
liturgical reenactment probable. Kister's recent article "5Ql3 and the 'Avodah," points in
the same direction. See the discussion above, p. 44-45. The possibility of an eyewitness
for the rite of removing the red ribbon from the scapegoat and binding it to something
else is less likely.
10 For introductory questions to this work, see the introduction to the edition of M.G.
Mara, Evangile de Pierre (SC 201; Paris, 1973); the appendix in Brown, The Death ofthe
Messiah, pp. 1317-1349, whose bibliography includes older works; and cf. Crossan,
Four Other Gospels, pp. 124-181. The terminus ad quem of the Gospel of Peter is the
time ofSerapion of Antioch around 200 CE. A date around 100-150 is opinio communis:
see Brown, The Death of the Messiah, pp. 1341-43; J.D. Crossan, The Historical Jesus.
The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (San Francisco, 1991), pp. 433-434. Some
scholars date it even earlier, to the frrst century: see Koester, "Apocryphal and Canonical
Gospels." For the place, Antioch is favored by Brown, while Mara, Evangile de Pierre,
prefers Asia Minor. The papyri usually come from Egypt.
71 Crossan follows earlier suggestions of Martin Dibelius, JUrgen Denker and Helmut
Koester. See M. Dibelius, "Die alttestamentlichen Motive in der Leidensgeschicbte des
Petrus- und Johannesevangeliums," Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fiir die alttestamentliche
Wissenschaft 33 (1918) 125-150; J. Denker, Die theologiegeschichtliche Stellung des
Petrusevangeliums (Europaische Hochschulschriften, 23. Reihe, 36; Bern, Frankfurt am
Main, 1975); Koester, "Apocryphal and Canonical Gospels," pp. 126-130.
6S
69
Ti
tortures (stage 2). n In the third stage, the rite of the two Yom Kippur goats joins the prophetic sources with further details and adds a primary narrative sequence. This stage is
the first to be preserved in an extant text of Barnabas.73 In the fourth stage, a fullyfledged narrative is formed and the scene of the mocked king with the motifs of wearing
a robe and being crowning are included. However, the explicit allusions to Jesus as
scapegoat are dropped. This stage is reflected in the Cross Gospel,14 which was used by
the pre-Markan Passion Narrative. Both were used by the other canonical Gospels
(stage 5). Crossan's claim that all canonical and extra-canonical Passion narratives are
ultimately dependent on an exegetical reworking of Yom Kippur's ritual is probably the
most far-reaching thesis proffered to date regarding the influence of Yom Kippur on
early Christianity.
Crossan's theory has sparked mainly critical responses. 75 His critics concentrate on
refuting the priority accorded to the Cross Gospel over the canonical Passion narratives,
i.e. the transition from the fourth to a fifth stage. Their argumentation is based on the
contention that the similarities between the Gospel of Peter and Mark (only these two)
are too few to suppose that they share a direct literary dependency (in either direction). 76
The vocabulary and word order of no canonical gospel follows the Gospel of Peter for
more than two or three words. 77 Furthermore, Mark, Matthew and John preserved the
"primitive traditions" of Barnabas, which are not p~ of Crossan's Cross Gospel. 78 On
the other hand, many details of the Gospel of Peter that would suit the narratives of the
163
canonical gospels are omitted by all of them. 79 Finally, if Matthew, Luke and John had
indeed used the Gospel of Peter in addition to Mark, one would have expected some
agreement between two of the canonical gospels against Mark (in the style of Q), but
there is none. 80
These arguments undermine Crossan's thesis of an influence of the scapegoat rite on
every early Passion account. Yet what is the relationship between the Yom Kippur typology in Barnabas and the Gospel of Peter? Scholars have long recognized a conspicuous
proximity between Barnabas 5 and 7 and two scenes in the Gospel of Peter: the mocking
(3:6--9) and the drinking on the cross (5:15-16). 81 The first passage reads:
3:6 But having taken the Lord, running (-rpxovu:<;), they were pushing (OOeouv) him
and saying, "Let us drag along (cr-Upoo1.u:v) the Son of God now that we have power
over him." 1 And they clothed him with purple (1toprp-6pav) and sat him on a chair
of judgment, saying, "Judge justly, King of Israel." sAnd a certain one of them,
having brought a thorny crown (akrpavov 0:Kclv91Vov), put it on the head of the
Lord. 9 And others who were standing there were spitting (&vExoov) in his face,
and others slapped (i:pclmaav) his cheeks. Others were jabbing him with a reed
(KaA.ir.~q:t &vooaov); and some scourged (&1-lcla-n~ov) him, saying, "With such honor
let us honor the Son of God." 82
Most of the details of the mocking of Jesus as recounted in the Gospel of Peter appear in
Barnabas. 83 Matthew and John each bring only part of the traditions, which are common
to Barnabas and the Gospel of Peter. 84 Mark and Luke are even more different from
Barnabas and the Gospel of Peter. Therefore, Koester can conclude: "It is evident that
the mocking scene in this gospel [the Gospel of Peter] is a narrative version that is directly dependent upon the exegetical tradition which is visible in Barnabas."85
Beyond the clear correspondences, John Doininic Crossan suggests three further connections between motifs in the Gospel of Peter and Barnabas. The Yom Kippur traditions of Barnabas were transfonned by the Gospel of Peter. First, the scarlet wool of the
scapegoat was combined with the priestly cloak (noi5tlPl1<;) from Zechariah 3:1-5 and became the purple robe of the mocked king. 86 Second, the scarlet wool on the head of the
n This stage continued into the time' of the formation of the Canonical Gospels. For an
analysis of some selected passages, see already Moo, The Old Testament in the Gospel
Passion Narratives, esp. pp. 139-144, who objects to Koester's and Crossan's approach.
73
Crossan, The Cross That Spoke, pp. 114---159.208-217.
74
Crossan, The Cross That Spoke, pp. 122 and 157, and see the tables on p. 143 and
p. 158. A short version of his theory, albeit without reflection on Barnabas, can be found
in Crossan's article, "The Cross That Spoke."
75
See the discussion of Crossan's theory in Brown, The Death of the Messiah,
pp. 1317-1348, especially 1332-38. Cf. A. Kirk, "Examining Priorities: Another Look at
the Gospel of Peter's Relationship to the New Testament Gospels," New Testament
Studies 40 (1994) 572-595; G.W. Nickelsburg, "Review of: John Dominic Crossan, The
Cross that Spoke. The Origins of the Passion Narrative (San Francisco: Harper and Row,
1988)." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 59 (1991) 159-162; R.H. Fuller,
"Review of: John Dominic Crossan, The Cross That Spoke. The Origins of the Passion
Narrative (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988)" Interpretation 45 (1991) 71-73; J.C.
Treat, "The Two Manuscript Witnesses to the Gospel of Peter," in: D.J. Lull (ed.),
Society of Biblical Literature 1990 Seminar Papers (Atlanta [Ga.], 1990; pp. 391-399);
Green, "The Gospel of Peter: Source for a pre-canonical Passion Narrative?"; and
F. Neirynck, "Review of: John Dominic Crossan. Who Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots
of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus (San Francisco, CA:
HaperCollins, 1995)," Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 71 (1995) 455-457. There
are far fewer voices in favor of Crossan's theory, most notably Koester, Ancient
Christian Gospels, pp. 216-240, but note his critique on pp. 219-220.
76
Brown, The Death of the Messiah, pp. 1327-28.
n Brown, The Death of the Messiah, pp. 1332-33.
78
Nickelsburg, "Review of: John Dominic Crossan, The Cross that Spoke," here
p. 161.
79
Brown, The Death of the Messiah, p. 1333.

Brown, The Death of the Messiah, p. 1333.
8! E.g. Mara, Evangile de Pierre, p. 21, note 2.
82 Slightly changed translation from Brown, The Death of the Messiah, pp. 1318-19;
Greek text in Mara, Evangile de Pierre.
83
a) spitting [&~11:"t"Uoo] Gospel of Peter 3:9, Barnabas 7:8a; b) piercing [vilaaro] Gospel
of Peter 3:9, [Ka"t"aKev"t"kro] Barnabas 7:8a; c) crowning Gospel of Peter 3:8, Barnabas 7:8; d) clothing in (red) robe Gospel of Peter 3:7; Barnabas 7:9; e) slapping the
cheeks [Pani~oo 0:<; <nayOva<;] Gospel of Peter 3:9; Barnabas 5:14; scourging [!laa"t"it;ro]
Gospel of Peter 3:9; Barnabas 5:14. See Koester, Ancient Christian Gospels, pp. 222227.
84 Matt and John: crowning with crown of thorns (John: thorny crown), clothing with
scarlet cloak/purple robe. Matt: spitting (Matt 27:30). John: piercing, slapping, scourging
(John 19:1.3.34.37). But note also the dissimilarities: Matt and not Gospel of Peter:
giving reed as scepter, hitting with reed, mocking, leading away (Matt 27:28--31).
85
Koester, Ancient Christian Gospels, p. 227.
86
Gospel of Peter 3:7; Barnabas 7:9.
80
!
.jj:~.
scapegoat, which was put on the thorns in the bush, became the crown of thorns on the
head of the mocked king. 87 Finally, Crossan hypothesizes that the reed piercing the side
of Jesus reflects the instrwnent in the historical temple ritual with which the scapegoat
was pierced. 83 Helmut Koester accepts Crossan's two former points and, more hesitantly
also Crossan's interpretation of the reed, yet he warns that the two manuscripts of th~
Gospel of Peter show great variation89 and any philological arguments with respect to the
text have to be viewed with reservations. 90
Parallels exist also in the scene of giving gall and vinegar to Jesus on the cross (Gospel of Peter 5:15-16):
s:1s But it was midday, and darkness held fast all Judea; and they were distressed
and anxious lest the sun had set, since he was still living. [For] it is written for
them: "Let not the sun set on one put to death." 16 And someone of them said
"Give him to drink gall with vinegar (n:o1:ioo:ce airrOv xokJ\v f.lt'l:!l ~ouo;)."
having made a mixture, they gave to drink. 91
And
Again, the Gospel of Peter and Barnabas are more similar to each other than to the canonical gospels. First, Jesus is given gall and vinegar, matching Psalm 69 (68):22 only in
the Gospel of Peter and in Barnabas, not in the canonical gospels. 92 Second, Deuteronomy21:23 is quoted only in Peter's Passion narrative, not in the canonical Passion
narratives. Barnabas does not quote Deuteronomy 21:23, but he refers to the consequence of the death on the wood - the curse. Galatians 3: 10-13 mentions both explicitly,
but it is unlikely that either the G~pel of Peter or Barnabas depended on Galatians.
Probably, all three knew independently the tradition of the crucified as cursed
scapegoat. 93
Crossan's own observation that "explicit allusions to Jesus as scapegoat do not remain
in the tradition as it proceeds and develops" 94 impedes scrutinizing his argument for
evidence of the Yom Kippur traditions. The details of the abuse in the Gospel of Peter
are based on prophetic passages. None of them necessarily depends on the scapegoat
87
Gospel of Peter 3:8; Barnabas 7:8.11.

Barnabas 7:8 mentions only the act not the instrument. Crossan bases his claim on
the Sibylline Oracles 1:360-75 and 8:285-309, independent of the canonical Passion
narratives, but drawing on the earliest Christian Passion traditions connected to the
scapegoat rite. According to Crossan, Sibylline Oracles 1:360-75 depends on 8:285-309.
Since the former passage was written before 150 CE, the latter has to be earlier than
150 CE: see Crossan, The Cross That Spoke, pp. 133-139, especially 135.
89
Treat, "The Two Manuscript Witnesses to the Gospel of Peter."
90
Koester, Ancient Christian Gospels, pp. 224-225.
91
Slightly ~hanged translation from Brown, The Death of the Messiah, p. 1319; Greek
text in Mara, Evangile de Pierre.
92
Gospel of Peter 5:16; Barnabas 7:3.5.
93
J. Carleton Paget, "Paul and the Epistle of Barnabas," Novum Testamentum 38
(1996) 359-381, does not discuss this specific passage but concludes that Barnabas had
no knowledge of Paul. It is not impossible that the view of crucified saints as cUTSed
scapegoats is pre-Christian and was applied to other crucifixions before Jesus. The
polemical weight of the argument against proto-Christianity would have been slighter but
the existence of a counterargument does not silence the argument.
94
Crossan, The Cross That Spoke, p. 142.
88
165
ritual. 9S Crossan's theory concerning the transfonnation of the three motifs of the scarlet
ribbon, the thorns and the reed is too speculative. For example, regarding the association
of the scarlet ribbon with the cloak of the soldiers, Matthew is closer to Barnabas than to
his presumed source, the Cross Gospel, as we shall see in the_ following se:tion.96 Cro~
san suggests that the scapegoat ritual introduced a first narrattve sequence mto the vanous prophetic passages. Yet the sequence of those details of the scapegoat rite mentioned
in the proto-typology (abuse, leading out of the city, killing) is very similar to those basic
facts that could be known historically. As I show in the section that follows, Matthew
probably perceived exactly the same proximity of the historical events as given in his
source, Mark, to the ritual sequence of the scapegoat rite and decided to formulate the
Barabbas episode along the lines of the "lottery"97 between the goats that constitutes the
introduction to the Yom Kippur ritual.
The ritual of Yom Kippur did not influence every early Passion account, as Crossan
suggested. 98 The Yom Kippur typology of Barnabas is one of the branches in the development of the canonical Passion narratives, rather than their root. However, it is a
very early branch and it displays a great similarity to the Gospel of Peter, yet without
entailing a direct interdependence between them. The evidence suggests that the relationship to the canonical gospels and to the Gospel of Peter was based on shared oral traditions of prophetic typological exegesis, not on the Yom Kippur typology.
1.2 Barabbas as Scapegoat in Matthew 27:15-23

27:15 Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the
crowd, whom they wanted. t6 At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called
Jesus Barabbas. 11 So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you
want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?"
1s For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over.
19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, "Have
nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal
because of a dream about him." 20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded
the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. 21 The governor again
said to them. "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they
said, "Barabbas." 22 Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is
called the Messiah?'' All of them said, "Let him be crucified!'' 23 Then he asked,
"Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be
crucified!" 24 So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot
95 Isa 50:6: spitting, scourging, slapping the cheeks. Zech 3: clothing with the robe
(though not red). The Hebrew text of Zech 12:10 mentions piercing (1V1). While the
LXX misread (1i'1), the other Greek versions translated 1j?1. Gospel of Peter and Barnabas reflect two different translations. John 19:34.37 gives both Greek verbs.
96 Matt 27:28 labels the red of the cloak that the soldiers put around Jesus KOKJCivll,
like the crimson of Barnabas' scapegoat, while the Gospel of Peter uses purple (nopqiJpo.). Matthew is closer to Barnabas than is the Gospel of Peter.
97 Interestingly, Crossan does not regard the scapegoat lottery as background to the
Barabbas episode, though this could have embellished his thesis further.
98
For different reasons, I object to Rene Girard's highly reductionist theses, e.g. in
The Scapegoat (Baltimore, 1986), that see the scapegoat in practically every realm of
life.
was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd,
saying: I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." 2s Then the
people as a whole answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" 26 So he
released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be
crucified. 99
The episode of Barabbas in the Matthean version gains depth when understood vis-a-vis the lottery of the goats in the Yom Kippur ritual. 100 The
release of Barabbas has caused some trouble for historians as well as
exegetes. 101 On the literary level, the change in the people's attitude toward Jesus from the exultations upon his entry to the release of Barabbas
seems too abrupt, and the explanation that the high priests and scribes
brought about this conversion with only a few words seems flimsy. The
brevity of the exposition is disconcerting; the people are manipulated too
easily. Matthew abolishes the careful distinction regarding the
responsibiliry for the death of the Messiah that he had kept up to this point,
between the nentral disposition of the people and the evil inclination of its
leaders. The notorious statement: "His blood be on us and on our
children!" transfers the responsibility to the whole people. With this involvement of the bystanders, the "Q.arrator accuses them of being of the same
party as the active perpetrators.
On the historical level, apart from what is related in the Gospels, no
evidence for a privilegium paschalis, the release of prisoners before festivals, especially Pesach, has yet been found. Even such conservative scholars as Raymond Brown, who want to preserve the historicity of the story,
state: "There is no good analogy supporting the historical likelihood of the
custom in Judea of regularly releasing a prisoner at a/the feast [of Passover]."102 Brown suggests a historical nucleus behind the story: a certain
Jesus Barabbas, who was subjected to similar claims of revolt, was re99
Matt27:15-26, NRSV.
100
On general questions relating to the Barabbas episode I used the commentaries by
Brown, The Death of the Messiah; U. Luz, Das Evangelium nach Matthiius (Mt 26-28)
(Evangelisch-Katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament 114; Neukirchen-VIuyn.
2002); D.C. Allison and W.D. Davies, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the
Gospel According to Saint Matthew. Vol. Ill Commentary on Matthew XIX-XXVIII (International Christian Commentary; Edinburgh, 1997); and D.A. Hager, Matthew 14--28
(Word Biblical Commentary; Dallas [Tex.], 1995).
101
On this passage, see the articles by H.A. Rigg, "Barabbas," Journal of Biblical
Literature 66 (1945) 417-456; and H.Z. Maccoby, "Jesus and Barabbas," New Testament
Studies 16 (1969 I 10) 55-60; and the long discussion in the commentary by Brown, The
Death ofthe Messiah. See also J. Merkel, "Die Begnadigung am Passahfeste," Zeitschrift
for die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der iilteren Kirche 6 (1905) 293316.
102
Brown, The Death of the Messiah, pp. 818 and 819.
167
d at the same time as the crucifixion of Christ. 103 Against this,

Iease
th
. It d
. 'd t
skeptical scholars such as John Crossan object at so ISO a e an mci en
would be highly improbable under Pliate, wh? was well kn~wn to be ng. pursuing his activities against the rehgtous authonties and would
orous m
h 1 'a!
not have retreated in the face of local powers. Crossan giVes t eo _ogic literary reasons for the emergence of the story of Barabbas. F~r. him, the
'llustrates a double mistake - of the Romans on the poht1cal level
scenei
'h authonties
.. chose the
d fthe high priests on religious level. ..The Jewts
~li;iously) wrong person to re~e~~tWThe Roman authorities chose the
(politically) wrong person to crucify.
.
More than a hundred years ago A.H. Wratislaw proposed an exegetiCal
basis for the Barabbas episodes,'" a typology that IS based on the two
goats of Yom Kippur. He enumerates these pomts of simlianty:
a) Two "victims" are presented (Jesus-Barabbas).
b) They are similar to each other (both are named Jesus and Son of the
Father).
'ah f
c) They symbolize opposed powers (Jesus, the peaceful Messi o
God; Barabbas, the murderer, as Messiah of the people) ..
d) There is a lottery/election between the two as to who IS to be released and who is to be killed.
e) A "confession" is pronounced ("His blood be on us").
Wratislaw's theory of an exegetical genesis for the Barabbas sto?' was not
106
ccepted in the commentaries and fell into oblivion. However, If one ap;lies the typology not generally to all passion accounts ?ut only to
A
Matthew, the quality of the argument improves considerably.
high!
Y
comparison between Matthew and its V"_orlage, Mark, reveals some
interesting redactional changes. Only m Matthew do the people choose
1ro The same unconvincing conclusion is drawn by Allison and Davies, A Critical and
Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to. Saint Matt?ew;. vol. 3, P 583. The
data about amnesties in ancient Assyria and Greece m R.L. Mentt, Jesus Barabbas and
the Paschal Pardon" Journal of Biblical Literature 104 (1985) 57-68, are too early to be
relevant historicall~ but may still have been influential as a litera~ mo.d~l. .
104 J.D. Crossan, Who Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots of Ant1semltlsm m the Gospel
Story of the Death of Jesus (San Francisco, 1995), p. 112.
tos A.H. Wratislaw, The Scapegoat-Barrabas," Expository Times 3 (1891/92) 400-
403.
. d
. t th
In fact Wratislaw was not the first to interpret the Barabbas eptso e agams
e
background 'or the scapegoat rite. Origen had already made this co~ection: see Homit;
on Leviticus 10:2:2 (SC 287:134). This exegesis is also found m Pse~do-Jerome s
seventh-century Commentary on Mark 15: II (CSL 82:71): see the translatton and notes
in M. Cahill (transl.), The First Commentary on Mark: A~ Annota~ed Translatio':. (New
York, Oxford, 1998). On the medieval influence of thts exegests, see Louf, Caper
emissarius ut typus Redemptoris apud Patres," p. 274.
106
between two figures with the same first name, Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus
Barabbas. This reading, put in parentheses in Nestle-Aland27, is preserved
by important witnesses and is accepted as original in most commen~
taries. 107 The identity of the names of Christ and Barabbas, preserved only
by Matthew and not in the other Gospels, has two mutually exclusive
explanations. Either he had access to an original tradition about the historical Jesus Barabbas and the other Gospels kept silent about the identity of
the names because it was offensive to them- as it was, for example, to the
copyists and to Origen 108 (the objections against the historicity of the story
have already been mentioned), or Matthew embellished his Vorlage by
introducing names for the nameless. 109 He thereby deliberately reinforced
the similarity between the two opposed prisoners.
Three further changes by Matthew, compared to his Vorlage, foster the
impression that he wanted to emphasize the choice: either Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Barabbas (see table). While he usually followed closely the
wording of Mark in the Passion account, here he changes three sentences.
He reformulates (I) the question by Pilate; (2) the description of the
propaganda of the high priests and the elders; and (3) the repetition of the
question by Pilate:
Mark 15
Matthew 27
9: eiU-ce U.n:oAWOl Up. tv -cOv jiamAE:a -c&v

loOOaiOlv;
17: Tiva 6iAe-ce U.n:oAWOl iltJ.1V lquoiiv

rOv BapafJ!Jiiv Jj'Jrpofiv-cOv Aey6w:vov
Xpta-cOv;
Do you want me to release for you the King

of the Jews?
Whom do you want me to release for

you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is
called the Messiah?
11: iva !J.O:Uov -cOv Bapai3Jiiiv O:n:oAOOu airro1~
20: iva ahi}oOlvrat rOvBapaP!Xiv rOv

Oil11aoVv O:n:oAi:aOlow
(But the chief priests stirred up the crowd) to

have him release Barabbas for them instead.
(Now the chief priests and the elders

persuaded the crowds) to ask for
Barabbas and to have Jesus killed.
2I:Tiva ai:Aete tilrO r&vOVo Q:xo).iio(l)
iJf,llV.
Which of the two do you want me to

release for you?
107
The apparatus of Nestle-Aiancf 7 gives the following witnesses: the Old Syriac, @,
the_ ferrara-group, 700* and some other uncials in Matt 27: 16; also some manuscripts of
Ongen of Matt 27:17, who comments on this.
108
E.g. Allison and Davies, Commentary on Matthew, vol. 3, p. 584, note 20.
109
He does this also in other instances, e.g. Matt 9:9; 26:3.57.
...:'r
~
f
I'
I'
!69
In so doing, Matthew underscores the contrast between the two homonymous men (both called Jesus) and the choice between two similar entities.
The people choose between Jesus A and Jesus B, who are very similar in
name but extremely different in character. This description agrees with the
halakhic ruling regarding the two goats on Yom Kippur. On the one hand
the Mishnah demands similarity in look and value, on the other hand the
ritual destinations of the two goats are totally different. While the one goat
is slaughtered and its blood brought into the holy of holies, the other goat
is sent from the sanctuary into the desert.
Of the three further Matthean additions to his Markan Vorlage (the
dream of Pilate's wife; Pilate washing his hands at the end of the act; and
Pilate's innocence and the guilt of the
the double confession' announcing
110
people), the latter two may be connected to Yom Kippur.
Usually,
Pilate's washing of hands and the confession are explained against the
background of the ritual of the heifer in Deuteronomy 21: 1-9. On the
detection of a murder by unknown persons, representatives of the suspected village have to wash their hands and announce a confession of
innocence similar to that of Pilate: "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor
were we wituesses to it. Absolve, 0 Lord, your people Israel, whom you
redeemed; do not let the guilt of innocent blood remain in the midst of
your people Israel."Ill Yet, like the heifer ritual of Deuteronomy 21:1-9,
the scapegoat ritual, too, ends with a confession and a subsequent washing.m Among the biblical descriptions of temple rituals, Yom Kippur
13
stands out as the only ritual with a washing after the procedures I Regarding the distinct connections between the Barabbas story and the scapegoat ritual, and presuming that Yom Kippur was an important event and
conception for every Jew, I suggest that these features of the Matthean
Barabbas story were formed not only by Deuteronomy 21 but also had the
ritual of the goats of Yom Kippur as a catalyst.
In view of this evidence I also suggest that five halakhic prescriptions
of Yom Kippur played a role in Matthew's formulation of the passage:
a) The lottery of the two goats
b) The similarity of these goats
c) Their contrasting destinations
d) The confession over the scapegoat
e) The washing of the hands at the end ofthe ritual
no The dream of Pilate's wife bas no meaning against the background of the ritual of
Yom Kippur.
Ill Deut 21:7-8.
112 Lev 16:21-24.
m In reality, of course, priests would have washed themselves after the temple service.
Yom Kippur Jmal?!fP' in the Early Christian lmaginaire
171
Kippur in choosing between the two goats, Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus
Barabbas. As scapegoat they choose the wrong goat, Jesus Barabbas, who
is released in their midst (and consequently pollutes them), and hence as
sacrificial goat, the wrong goat, Jesus of Nazareth, whose blood, spilled at
the wrong place also pollutes them. Matthew mocks the temple ritual, and
)
118
the people disregard the atonement m Jesus.
The reasons for connecting the first three prescriptions are much stronger
than for the last two, which may be explained by referring to Deuteronomy 21 but closely match the typology of the Yom Kippur ritual. When
set against the historical reading by Brown, it illustrates most of the Matthean Sondergut and redactional changes in the Barabbas story. 114
In addition, Koester suggests there is an allusion to the scapegoat rite in
Matthew's version of the mocking of Jesus, which follows the Barabbas
episode. Matthew 27:28 changes Mark's term for the red cloak the soldiers
put around Jesus, from 1top~vpa (purple) to KOKKiVT] (scarlet). Koester proposes that Matthew wanted to allude to the scarlet wool tied around the
scapegoat, which in Barnabas 7 is called tO pwv tO JC(HctnvovY 5 In general, JCOJCKivTtf"Jttl carries a notion of atonement.u 6 Commentaries usually
refer to the cheaper price of scarlet, which is made from worms and not
snails and matches better the mocking by simple soldiers and not rich generals. However, a search for the expression xAaJ.!iJ.; JCOJCJCivll in TLG 8
yielded only Matthew 27:28 and its commentaries. It is therefore an
exc_eptional c?mbination of words. Dale C. Allison suggests a third explanatiOn, refemng to Targum Onkelos Genesis 49:11, where the messianic
garment is made from scarlet (~11:1T l1J.:!i).u 7 The three interpretations are
not mutually exclusive. Yet Koester's thesis implies a transition from the
typology of Jesus with the sacrificial goat in the Barabbas episode to a
scapegoat typology in the mocking.
What theological idea did Matthew want to convey with his allusions to
the scapegoat rite in the mocking scene? I suggest that he embellished his
Vorlage in order to include aspects of the people's guilt and how the believers achieve atonement. The labels Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus Barabbas symbolize two aspects of the historical Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth is the
Messiah, as God wants him to be, while Jesus Barabbas is the Messiah as
the people want him to be. The people usurp the role of God on Yom
Excursus: The Catalytic Function of the Pharmakos and the Scapegoat

Many Greek cities had collective purification rites - which scholars term "pharmakos
rites"- showing some parallels to the biblical scapegoat rite. 119 Usually, th~ rite _includes
the expulsion (sometimes even the killing) of a marginal member of soctety, 1deal~y a
120
king or a virgin, in reality more likely a beggar or a stranger. In Athens ~t ~e festtval
of Thargelion and in times of distress, two ugly men were fed for a certam. ttme_- one
with black figs as purification for the women, the other with white figs as punfi~atton for
the men- then killed or driven across the border. In Massilia in cases of epidemiC, a po_or
man was fed and clothed expensively for one year and then led round the walls of the City
and thrown from a precipice or chased away. Similar rituals existed in Abdera, Leukas
and other cities of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. B. Hudson McLean suggests
that this common Mediterranean rationale stands behind three Pauline passages, Romans 8:3, Galatians 3:13 and 2Corinthians 5:21.12l Since he does not claim specifically
influence by Yom Kippur, I will not delve further into his thesis.
. .
Some Church Fathers indeed provide evidence for an awareness by Christians of the
pharmakos rituals from at least the second century. 122 They compare Jesus' death not
11& For the sake of comprehensiveness, I would like to mention another thesis re~arding
Matthew and Yom Kippur, put forward by J. Massingberd Ford. She sugges_t~ se~~g the
whole Sermon on the Mount and particularly the Pater Noster as a composttiOn . on the
occasion of Yom Kippur." However, her arguments are insubstantial: see J. Massmgberd
Ford ..The Forgiveness Clause in the Matthean Form of the Our Father," Zeitschrift fir
die ~eutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der tilteren Kirche 59 (1968) 127131. At the end of the short article she summarizes the arguments of, Yom Kippur and
the Matthean Form of the Pater Noster," Worship 41 (1967) 609-619 (non vidl).
119 See J. Bremmer, Scapegoat Rituals in Ancient Greece," Harvard Studies in
Classical Philology 87 (1983) 299-320; and McLean, The Cursed Christ, PP 65-104.
120 .. In historical reality the community sacrificed the least valuable members of the
polis, who were represented, however, as very valuable persons. In the mythical tales
we always fmd beautiful or important persons, although even then these scapego~ts
remain marginal figures: young men and women, and a king": Bremmer, "Scapegoat Rituals in Ancient Greece," p. 307. Moreover, most heroes of the Greek myths offer the~
selves voluntarily. For a comparison with earlier studies of the scapeg~at see. h1s
extensive bibliography in note 2, p. 299. It may be interesting that an oppOSite relatiOnship between myth and ritual practice exists between the Mishnah Yoma ("the ritual")
and Lev 16 ("the myth").
121 See McLean, The Cursed Christ, pp. 105-145.
tn A fully elaborate version of this argument can be found in D. StOkl, "The Christian
Exegesis of the Scapegoat between Jews and Pagans," in: A.l. Baumgarten (ed.),
114
For this reading, the question of historicity is almost irrelevant- with the exception
of a possible historical tradition of the name Jesus Barabbas. While the conclusions suggest that the episode is not historical, the theory- that Matthew reformed his tradition on
the basis of the lottery between the goats on Yom Kippur - is not dependent on any ahistoricity of the story.
ll5 Koester, Ancient Christian Gospels, pp. 225-226.
116
SeeR. Gradwohl, Die Farben im A/ten Testament (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift filr die
alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 83; Berlin, 1963), pp. 73-78; 0. Michel, "Kokkinos,"
Theologisches WOrterbuch zum Neuen Testament 3 (1938) 812-815; and K.-M. Beyse~
1
" Jtrl" Theo/ogisches WOrterbuch zum A/ten Testament 8 (1995) 340-342; and Gen 38:30;
Lev 14; Num 19. Also xopql'iipa has cultic connotations including the high-priestly garments (Exod 25:4; 26:1.31, etc.; Sir 45: 10), but not atonement.
117
Allison and Davies, Commentary on Saint Matthew. vol. 3, p. 602.
172 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the ~st and Second Centuries
only to the scapegoat and all other biblical sacrifices but also to legends about kings sacrificing their lives to avert epidemics or natural catastrophies, i.e. to avert evi1. These
mythical tales are closely connected to the pharmakos rituals. 123 Clement of Rome Writes:
Let us also bring forward examples from the heathen. Many kings and rulers
when a time of pestilence bas set in, have followed the counsel of oracles,
given themselves up to death, that they might rescue their subjects through their
own blood. Many have gone away from their own cities, that sedition might have
an end .... 124
and
Origen answers Celsus:

They (the disciples) dared not only to show to the Jews from the sayings of the
prophets that he was the one to whom the prophets referred, but also showed to the
other nations that he who was crucified quite recently accepted this death willingly
for the human race, like those who have died for their country to check epidemics
of plague, or famines, or stormy seas. For it is probable that in the nature of things
there are certain mysterious causes which are hard for the multitude to understand
which are responsible for the fact that one righteous man dying voluntarily forth~
community may avert the activities of evil da_emons by expiation, since it is they
who bring about plagues, or famines, or stormy seas, or anything similar. Let people therefore who do not want to believe that Jesus died on a cross for men, tell us
whether they would not acc;pt the many Greek and barbarian stories about some
who have died for the community to destroy evils that had taken hold of cities and
nations. Or do they think that, while these stories are historically true, yet there is
nothing plausible about this man (as people suppose him to be) to suggest that he
died to destroy a great daemon, in fact the ruler of daemons, who held in subjeetion all the souls of men that have come to earth? 125
Alexander of Lycopolis confirms this line of thought from a pagan perspective in Egypt
around 300 CE:
For to maintain, according to the Church doctrine, that he (Jesus] gave himself up
for the remission of sins gains some belief in the eyes of many people in view of
the stories told among the Greeks about some persons who gave themselves up for
the safety of their cities. I26
I have argued elsewhere that the rise of the scapegoat-typology was probably fostered by
the fact that its rationale was easily understandable to non-Jewish converts because of its
173
comparability to their own cultural institution of pharmakos rites and the etiological tales
connected to these rites. 121
1.3 The Redemptive Curse: An Allusion to the Scapegoat in Galatians 3?
In the eyes of ancient Jews, every person crucified was cursed: Deuteron128
omy 21:23 states "anyone hung on a tree is under God's curse." Acc_o~d
ingly, the earliest followers of Jesus had to fmd an answer_to the_cogrutive
dissonance of a cursed Messiah: How ~an a cu~sed Mess1~ bn~g salvation? Paul addresses this question only m Galatians 3, espec1ally m verses
13-14:129
: For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse (KatCtpav); for it is
10
written "Cursed (ExtKa-rCqxrro~) is everyone who does not observe and obey all
the thi~gs written in the book of the law." [Deut 27:26 LXX]'30 11 N~w ~tis evident that no one is justified before God by the law; for "The one who IS nghteous
will live by faith." [Hab 2:4] 12 But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrat:,
"Whoever does the works of the law will live by them." [Lev 18:_5] 13 Christ
bought us free from the curse {Ka-ritpa~) of the law by becoming a curse {Ka"titpa)
for (imi:p) us- for it is written, 'Cursed (Emu-rUpaw.:;) is everyone who hangs on
a tree' [cf. Deut 21 :23] - 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the bles~ing of Abrah~
might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promtse of the Spmt
through faith. 131
3
Paul does not explicitly answer the "how" question of the salvific curse of
Christ. Some (mostly earlier) commentators express the opinion ~~t beThe
bind Galatians 3:13 stands the concept of Jesus as a scapegoat.
point of departure is the paradoxical description of Christ having become
m See StOkl, "The Christian Exegesis of the Scapegoat between Jews and Pagans."
J2S LXX: KEK-rTJpa~i:vo.:; im:O awu ?tii~ KpE~O.~svo<; i:"lti ~iilotJ.
129 A number of exegetes see a parallel in the concept expressed in 2Cor 5:21. For a
survey of interpreters who saw here an allusion to the scapegoat, see Young, "The Impact
of the Jewish Day of Atonement upon the Thought of the New Testame~t," ~P- 344:-349;
and L. Sabourin, "Christ made 'sin' (2 Cor 5:21). Sacrifice and redemptlon m the history
of a formula," in: idem and S. Lyonnet, Sin, Redemption and Sacrifice. A Biblical and
Patristic Study (Analecta Biblica 48; Rome, 1970; pp. 187-296), especially pp. 269-289.
Among new exegetes are McLean, The Cursed Christ, 108-l 13; and J.D.G. Dunn, The
Theology of Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids [Mich.] and Cambridge [UK], 19?8), P: 21
I do not see any philological basis for endorsing this claim and refer to the dtscusston m
Young. Even if (t~ap-ria is understood against a cultic background, i.e. mnm, the connection is to Lev 4 rather than to Lev 16.
130 Note, that Paul changes the verb slightly and that he omits the explicit reference intO
9011, since this would not match his understanding of Christ fulfilling God's will.
13
1 NRSV, slightly altered.
.
132 See the list in McLean, The Cursed Christ, pp. 18-19, and add, most unportantly
for their extensive interpretation, Young, "The Impact of the Jewish Day of Atonement
upon the Thought of the New Testament," pp. 344-349; and Schwartz, "Two Pauline
Allusions to the Redemptive Mechanism of the Crucifixion." H.D. Betz, Galatians. A
Sacrifice in Religious Experience (Studies in the History of Religions [Numen Book Series} 93; Leiden, Boston and Cologne, 2002; pp. 207-232).
123
See Bremmer, "Scapegoat Rituals in Ancient Greece," pp. 300-307.
124
]Clement 55:1 - Kirsopp Lake's translatiOn in LCL. It was H.S. Versnel's
fascinating article "Quid Athenis et Hierosolymis," in: J.W. van Henten (ed.), Die
Entstehung der jiidischen Martyriologie (Leiden, 1989; pp. 162-196), that drew my
attention to these passages.
125
Origen, Against Celsus 1:31.
126
Alexander of Lycopolis, Contra Manichaei Opiniones Disputatio 24, quoted according to Stern, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, vol. 2, pp. 486-487.
of departure is the paradoxical description of Christ having become K<oipa

as a substitnte "for us" (imop ~~6iv). Yet these commentators do not offer
philological explanations beyond the general sintilarity in the theological
ideas. Almost 20 years ago, Daniel Schwartz proposed an ingenious philological argument, which regrettably has not been awarded due attention
in subsequent commentaries. 133 He based his claim on Paul's peculiar use
of the verb ~anoa<l.l.ro in Galatians 4:4-7, a passage related to Galatians 3:13-14.' 34
4:4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent (~a.x:an:tAev) his Son, born
of a woman, born under the law, s in order to redeem (:~a.yop!la1J) those who were
under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. 135 6 And because you
are children, God has sent (1;anf:autAev) the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" 1 So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then
also an heir, through God.
Only here (Galatians 4:4 and 4:6) does Paul use ~anoa<l.l.ro. It proclaims
two different paths to salvation for Gentiles and for 1ews by the sending
Christ. God saved the Gentiles by sending Christ to declare that the former
slaves (Gentiles) have become sons and co-heirs. Paul does not expound
(to the Galatian Gentile audience?) on how the Jews were saved by the
sending of Christ. Schwartz 'points to Paul's peculiar use of ~anoa<Al.ro
for expressing sending, whereas in all other instances Paul employs
Commentary on Paul's Letter to the Churches in Galatia (Hermeneia; Philadelphia,

1979), p. 151, suggests an intermediate solution: "Most likely, the statement is based
upon a pre-Pauline interpretation of Jesus' death as a self-sacrifice and atonement (see
also Gal 1:4; 2:20) .... Jesus death interpreted by means of the Jewish concept of the
meritorious death of the righteous and its atoning benefits."
133
Among the more recent commentaries, I checked J.L. Martyn, Galatians. A New
Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Anchor Bible 33A; New York, 1997);
J.D.G. Dunn, The Epistle to the Galatians (Black's New Testament Commentary Peabody [Mass.], 1993); R.N. Longenecker, Galatians (Word Biblical Commentary 41; Dallas [Tex.], 1990). Only R.Y.K. Fung, The Epistle to the Galatians (The New International
Commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids [Mich.], 1988), refers to Schwartzin a note, without further discussion. Also McLean, The Cursed Christ, does not refer to
Schwartz, though he would have supported his thesis. The only sympathetic reference I
found was R.G. Hamerton-Kelly, sacred Violence and the Curse of the Law (Galatians
3.13). The Death of Christ as a Sacrificial Traversy," New Testament Studies 36 (1990)
98-118, here pp. 114-115.
134 Thematically and stylistically 3:13-14 is connected to 4:4-5: Jesus buys the Jews
free; the verb f:1;ayop!l~ro appears only here in Paul; the sentence has a parallel structure
(double iva). See Schwartz, "Two Pauline Allusions to the Redemptive Mechanism of the
Crucifixion"; and e.g. Dunn, The Epistle to the Galatians, p. 216.
135
The NRSV translates ui.6~ as child and the plural as children.
175
, n1trol36 or chtootSAAro. 137 Schwartz suggests that Paul is alluding to the

. m
.
Septuagint, where f:l;anoo.'tf:AAro appears ~equently, although only .~ce
a similar context to Galatmns 4 (the sendmg of X redeems Y): Lev111cus 14
(the sending of the bird in the purifi~ation of the leper) and Leviticus 16
(the sending of the scapegoat), two ntuals that are mllmately connected.
This context may have triggered Paul's choice of f:l;anootSAA.oo. "Paul does
not need to explain how sending forth Christ saved the Jews, for already
the word f:l;anSotetAcv, at least in his own mind if not in that of his readers,
carried the meaning: Christ's action was that of a scapegoat." 138 A perceptive reader of the Septuagint and of Paul may notice this connotation of
f:~anoo"tSAAm in the context of salvation ..
McLean tentatively suggests another philological connection to Yom
Kippur. Paul's use of SntKaTO:.pa-co<; instead of KEKatrtPa!1Svrn; in the quotation of Deuteronomy 21 :23 might refer to the scapegoat, since Barnabas
uses this word in his description of the scapegoat and this verse probably
belonged to his halakhic source 139 Although, as McLean himself states,
Paul's choice of f:mxa1:6:pato~ may be strongly influenced by Deuteronomy 27:26, the independent references to this tradition in Barnabas and
in the Gospel ofPeter speak for Paul using an existing tradition. 140
I would like to add a third suggestion: that the use of <~nyopaa<v in
Galatians 3: 13 might perhaps be a pun on the siroilar sound of the rare verb
f:l;aropcUacl. in Leviticus 16:21.
Lev 16:21
[Aaprov]
Gal 3:13
XptO'tO~
el;a.yopciJoI
1;T]y6pacr&v
in"
,,
aircoU {<p!lyou
i:rttlca-c!lpa<ou]
nO.aa~-c!l~
-c~~ Ka-cir.pa~
"tOii
!lvop.ia~
v01J.OU
uiWv
IapalJA
't00V
ilJ.tii~
In the first covenant, Aaron confesses, on the (cursed) scapegoat, the

iniquities of the children of Israel. In the second covenant, Christ redeems
the (Jewish) sinners; he renders them free from the curse of the law and
turns himself into their scapegoat. While I hesitate to interpret the release
of the believers as a high-priestly act, the language suggests that Paul used
this inverting pun.
136 Paul uses ni:j.lrtro eleven times in the authentic letters: Rom8:3; 1Cor4:17; 16:3;
2Cor 9:3; Phil2:19.23.25.28; 4:16; 1Thess 3:2.5; three times in the epistles of doubtful
authenticity: Eph 6:22; Col4:8; 2Thess 2:11; and the composita in the following verses:
xpott:J.1nro: Rom 15:24; 1Cor 16:6.11; 2Cor 1:16 (fom times); c:ru)ln:p.rcro 2Cor 8:18.22
(twice); Q:vani}.mro in Phlm 12 (once).
m Rom 10:15; 1Cor 1:17; 2Cor 12:17.
Bs Schwartz, "Two Pauline Allusions to the Redemptive Mechanism of the Crucifixion," p. 261.
139 See pp. 159-160, above.
140 McLean, The Cursed Christ, p. 136.
Schwartz himself remarks that his thesis works only with respect to
those readers who are well acquainted with the Greek Bible. Galatians is
addressed to a completely Gentile community, however, Paul clearly presumes in other parts of the Epistle that his addressees are able to
understand a quite complex exegetical argumentation. 141 McLean's argument for a cross-cultural apotropaic rite as background to this passage supports Schwartz, in that most Mediterranean people, pagans and Jews, knew
some form of the widespread concept that the sending of X (a "scapegoat"
or pharmakos) provides a release from impurity, sin and/or divine punishment.142 In any case, the alternative explanations to Galatians 3:10.13 do
not explain the strange idea of a curse having a redemptive function.
References to the vicarious deaths of martyrs explain neither Paul's use of
a curse at this point nor the question of how a curse could possibly have a
salvific function. If Paul had wanted to refer to the concept of vicarious
atonement in Jewish martyrdom ideology, he would probably have preferred other concepts than a curse. The suggestion of Schwartz and his predecessors, slight as the basis for their argument is, looks the most plausible.
1.4 The Scapegoat as Catalyst? ,John 1:29 and I Peter 2:24

In two other New Testament passages, the Lamb of God in John 1:29 and
the Servant Song in !Peter 2:24, the idea of Jesus expiating sin by its removal has been explained by some against the background of the scapegoat rite. 143
1.4.1 John 1:29
Three backgrounds have been suggested for the origin of the concept of the
"Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" 144 - the suffering servant, Passover and the scapegoat. 145 Each has its merits and demerits. The
141
U. Schnelle, Einleitung in das Neue Testament (UTB fiir Wissenschaft: UniTaschenbiicher I830; GOttingen, 2 1996), p. 123 (mainly Gentile Christians; probably Hellenistic citizens).
142
A more definitive answer can be given after an extensive discussion about the importance of sacrificial connotations. There is hardly an issue, more hotly discussed in
Pauline studies. See examples of the opposing views - in favor of the sacrificial atonement concept is Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle, pp. 212-223; against it are
C. Breytenbach, Versohnung. Eine Studie zur paulinischen Soteriologie (Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament 60; Neukirchen, 1989), passim;
and McLean, The Cursed Christ, pp. 22-64.
143
For another possible allusion in IJohn 4:10, seep. 206, below.
144 10E 0 O:f.lVOi; 'tOii aso-u 0 aiprov flv O:flapiav 'tOii 1COO:fl0U (John I :29, NRSV).
145
Dodd has suggested a fourth background: an apocalyptic ruler as in Revelation:
C.H. Dodd, The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel (Cambridge [UKJ, 1953), pp. 230238. This suggestion has been refuted by C.K. Barrett, "The Lamb of God," New
177
suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is compared to a lamb (53:7), which vicariously bears (53:5.8.10--12) the sins (53:4) and finally dies (53:12). C.F.
Burney has suggested that an Aramaic version of Isaiah 53 using N'7~,
which means servant as well as lamb might be responsible for the term
"Lamb of God." 146 According to the second theory, the Passover Lamb
plays a central role in John's description of the death of the Messiah in
19:36. However, the question of an expiatory function of the paschal lamb
is highly controversial147 The third suggested background is the scapegoat.148 The scapegoat is said to bear the sins. Yet the scapegoat is not a
lamb, and furthermore, any specific reference to sending out or cursing is
missing in John 1. 149
Testament Studies 1 (1954-55) 210--218; and see idem, Das Evangelium nach Johannes
(Kritisch-exegetiscber Kommentar tiber das Neue Testament; GOttingen, I990), p. 200.
See J. Frey, "Die 'theologia cruciflxi' des Johannesevangeliums," in: A. Dettwiler and J.
Zumstein (eds.), Kreuzestheologie im Neuen Testament (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 151; Tfibingen 2002; pp. 169-238), especially pp. 208209, for the reasons against a fifth background, the Tamid, a theory recently revived by
P. Stuhlmacher, "Das Lamm Gottes- eine Skizze," in: H. Cancik:, H. Lichtenberger and
P. Schafer (eds.), GeschiChte- Tradition- Rejlexion (FS M Hengel) (Ttibingen, 1996;
vol. 3, pp. 529-542).
146 C.F. Burney, The Aramaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel (Oxford, 1922), pp. l04108); cf J. Jeremias, "Amnos, aren, amion," Theologisches WOrterbuch zum Neuen
Testament I {1933) 342-345.
147 The blood of the paschal lamb has an apotropaic function in Jubilees 49:3 and
Heb 11:28. Some refer to 2Chr 30:15-20, Josephus, Antiquitates judaicae 2:312 and the
late Midrash Exodus Rabbah 15:12 (ed. Mirkin 174) as conceiving of the paschal lamb as
atoning but only the last passage from Exodus Rabbah clearly makes this association. For
arguments against the existence of this conception in the first century, see Stuhlmacher,
"Das Lamm Gottes- eine Skizze," pp. 529-531. Frey, "Die 'theologia cruciflXi' des
Johannesevangeliums," p. 2IO, points out that John might be the earliest instance of an
atoning understanding of the Passover sacrifice.
148 On this argumentation, see Young, "The Impact of the Jewish Day of Atonement
upon the Thought of the New Testament," pp. 352-256 and the commentaries quoted
there. Barrett, Das Evangelium nach Johannes, is more hesitant. Among newer
commentaries K. Wengst, Das Johannesevangelium (Theologischer Kommentar zum
Neuen Testament 4/I; Stuttgart; Berlin; K6ln, 2000), pp. 83-84, assumes that the
scapegoat, the Passover lamb, and Isa 53 stand in the background.
149 R. Schnackenbmg, The Gospel According to St. John (4 vols; Herder's Theological
Commentary on the New Testament I; Kent, 1968), vol. 1, p. 300 (explicitly); and R.E.
Brown, The Gospel According to John (i-xii). Introduction, Translation, and Notes
(Anchor Bible Garden City, N.Y., 1966), pp. 58-63 (implicitly) do not regard the
scapegoat as being among the motifs in the background. However, the philological
arguments, that the verbs used in Lev 16:22 (laJ~.IJUvro) and Isa 53:4.12 (.pi:pro, O:vaq~i:pro) do
not match aipro in John I :29 and that the Passover lamb was called not 0:J~.v0c; but :n:pOIlaov, are not very strong, considering the Aramaic background of the author of the
In sum, Isaiah 53 explains best the Johannine tradition. The paschal
lamb and especially the popular scapegoat rite may have served as catalysts. Unless we find an early Jewish source connecting Isaiah 53 to the
imaginaire of Yom Kippur, the assumption of such a catalytic function remains completely hypothetical. That later Johannine tradition conceives of
Jesus' death as atoning, probably with Yom Kippur looming in the background, becomes clearer in !John 2:2 and 4: I 0, as is discussed below. 150
1.4.2 !Peter 2:22-24

Admonishing his community in their own time of affliction to take Jesus'
suffering as an example, the author of !Peter reworks the fourth song of
the Servant of God in Isaiah 53:
He committed no sin
and no deceit was found in his mouth. [Isaiah 53 :9b]
1:11
23 When he was insulted (i..otOopoiJt.Leve><;), he did not return insult (O.vrei..otOOpu);

when he suffered (mlaxrov), he did not tlrreaten (ipteiMt);
he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.
24 He himself carried (O.vflveyteev) our sins
in his body upon the wood [cross] (ttl. tO !;UAov) [Isaiah 53:4.11.12],
'!.
so that free from sins,
we might live for righteousness;
by his wounds you have been healed [Isaiah 53:5].
Some exegetes have connected the Christological song in !Peter 2:22-24

to the imagery of the scapegoat, referring to the mention of insult, vicarious suffering, and the strange notion of Jesus carrying sins "upon the
wood." 151 Furthermore, some see a connection to Deuteronomy 21:23 in
the use of"wood" to refer to the cross (as in Galatians 3:13) 152
r
I
I
l
179
However, there is no indication here of a direct influence of the scapegoat imagery. 153 The correspondence to the scapegoat imagery stems from
the passage being a reworking of!saiah 53, which in turn may be based on
the scapegoat ritual. 154 This pertains to the motif of the silence, the vicarious suffering and the bearing of sins upon the wood.
In the peculiar formulation that Jesus carried the sins in his body upon
the wood ( tcic; iij.lO.ptl.ac; Tu.t&v aircO<; ftvitv&yJCEV Sv t41 Offij.latt aircoil sm tO l;Ulov), !Peter employs a word with a cultic notion, O.va<pSpco, usually alluding
to an offering on an altar. It was adopted from the Greek of Isaiah 53:12.
Since a presentation of sins is unimaginable, the author is most likely
referring to Jesus' body as offering. Unlike Barnabas or Galatians, however, !Peter 2:22-24 does not mention the sending or the curse. 155 While in
Acts 5:30 and 10:39 and Galatians 3:13 the use ofl;ul.ov for "cross" clearly
alludes to Deuteronomy 21:23, this is not so in all passages, as its
occurrence in Acts 13:29 shows. In !Peter 2:24, any connotation of curse
is missing (lm&opoUj.levoc; in Greek has no undertone of curse); I do therefore see an allusion to Deuteronomy 21:23 as a possible but not necessary
conclusion. While "insult" does not appear in Isaiah 53, I do not see any
reason to suppose that the author included it in order to allude thereby to
the scapegoat. It is probably based on a Passion tradition and Jesus' ethical
message of non-retaliation in Matthew 5:38-48, in connection with the
silence of the lamb in Isaiah 53:7156
In sum, the scapegoat ritual may, at most, have served as a catalyst for
applying Isaiah 53 to Christ, similar to the instance of the Lamb of God in
John 1:29157
IS 3 Against the scapegoat as background, see e.g. J.H. Elliott, I Peter. A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Anchor Bible 37B; New York, 2000), p. 352;
P.J. Achtemeier, I Peter (Henneneia; Minneapolis, 1996), p. 202; L. Goppelt, Der Erste
Petrusbrief(edited by Ferdinand Hahn; Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar Uber das Neue
Gospel. See Schnackenburg, The Gospel According to St. John, val 1, pp. 105-111, on
the various theories on the exact character of this Aramaic background.
!so See pp. 205-207, below.
m See the list of exegetes who see here an allusion to the scapegoat, in Young, "The
Impact of the Jewish Day of Atonement upon the Thought of the New Testament,"
pp. 349-352; also K.H. Schelkle, Die Petrusbriefe, der Judasbrief(Herders theologischer
Kommentar zum Neuen Testament 13/2; Freiburg, Basel, Vienna, 1961); and, more
hesitantly, N. Brox, Der erste Petrusbrief (Evangelisch-Katholischer Kommentar 21;
ZUrich, Einsiedeln, KOln, Neukirchen-Vluyn, 2 1986), p. 138 "Vielleicht ist auch das Bild
vom ehrlosen, verfluchten, aber schuldlosen SUndenbock (Lev 16,2(}...22) im Spiel,
jedenfalls aber der Gedanke der Siihne."
1 2
s E.g. C. Bigg, Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles of St. Peter and
St. Jude (International Critical Commentary; New York, 1901), p. 147.
Testament 12/1; GOttingen, 1978), p. 210, note 71.

154 On the scapegoat ritual behind Isa 53, see above, pp. 116-117. The connection of
I Pet 2:22-24 to Isa 53 is clear: lPet 2:22- Isa 53:9 Ott O.vo}liav oUte 1toilJaev oUM t'UpS&rJ
OOi..oo; f:.v tiP cst6}1att airtoU. 1Pet 2:24 - Is a 53:4: oUtoo; tO.o; O.~apriao; ft~&v ~Pipet. lsa 53:11:
tdo; 0.}1Up<ias aitt&v aittOo; O.voicset. !sa 53:12: aittOo; O.J.Lapti.ao; 1toU&v O.vftveyKsv. I Pet 2:25Isa 53:5: t(fl J.L00i..omt airtoU iJJ.Letr; i6.0T)J.l6V.
ISS As P.J. Achtemeier, I Peter, p. 202, confirms.
1S6 Achtemeier, 1 Peter, p. 200, referring to Mark 14:61; 15:5; Matt 26:62-63; 27:12;
27:14; Luke 23:9: John 19:9.
1S1 Cf. Young, "The Impact of the Jewish Day of Atonement upon the Thought of the
New Testament," p. 356: "It must be stressed that this is far from saying that the scapegoat was a type of Christ; the evidence is such as to leave open the possibility that the
language of taking away of sin in John 1:29 and I Pet 2:24 may have behind it the language of the scapegoat ritual" (emphasis in the original).
2. Christ as High Priest: Hebrews

A quick glance at the Epistle to the Hebrews makes it obvious that this is a
Yom Kippur typology. The high priest entering the holy of holies with
blood once a year undoubtedly refers to Yom Kippur. I suggest that some
additional motifs may be connected to Yom Kippur, in particular the high
priest's victory over the powers of evil, and his confession, intercession
and exit from the holy of holies. Moreover, I argue for an apocalyptic
backgrouud to some Yom Kippur motifs. In the final subsection, I propose
a new explanation for the development of the earliest stage of the highpnestly Christo logy- namely, that it derives from apocalyptic conceptions
of Yom Kippur in connection with Zechariah 3.
Rather than writing its myth in a narrative sequence, Hebrews evokes
s~veral scenes in a typological exegesis. The character of Hebrews' myth
dtffers from the texts hitherto discussed, as a comparison with Barnabas
reveals. Barnabas fleshes out earthly events with typologized ritual; Hebrews ventures into cosmological dimensions. While Barnabas and Matthew use the scapegoat ritual to elaborate details of the earthly aspects of
Christ's Passion and again hls Parousia on earth, Hebrews employs the
entrance of the high priest into the holy of holies to develop the twin concepts of Jesus' destruction of the devil and his ascent to the presence of
God in the heavenly sanctuary. For this, Hebrews uses several acts of the
high priest's ritual from the biblical Yom Kippur: the entrance, the blood
sacrifice and sprinkling, and perhaps the confession. Other aspects refer
rather to the temple ritual, such as the high priest's intercession and perhaps the role of the people as spectators of the high priest's rite. The basic
setting, however, is apocalyptic: the heavenly temple, the eschatological
concept of time and the motif of the high-priestly redeemer who destroys
the Lord of the evil powers, liberates his good prisoners and ascends to
God.
The first part of these inquiries outlines the chronological and geographical frame. The second part investigates the high priest and his vari158
ous works. The third part explores the role of the people as spectators of
the high priest's performance and finally as his eschatological imitators.
158
Destruction of the evil powers, confession, entrance, blood sacrifice and sprinkling,
and intercession.
Yom Kippur Imagery in the Early Christian !maginaire
181
2.1 The Setting
2.J.l Sacred Time: The Present Eschaton as Yom Kippur

Hebrews clearly distinguishes between its own, eschatological time, 159
which is close to the end of world,' 60 and the period preceding it. The eschaton begins with the high priest's self-sacrifice on Golgotha, (~)0.na~ 161
connects Christ's sacrifice once in history to the Yom Kippur ritual performed once a year 162 and characterizes Christ's sacrifice as an act a~com
plished in the past 163 rather than as a ritual continued in the present m the
heavenly sanctuary. It is not the sacrifice that continues but Christ's heavenly intercession for his followers in the presence of God (7:25). The
writer admonishes the community, asking them to wait for the Second
Parousia (9:28), whose delay causes some discontent among the addressees. Some exegetes suggest that the_ author is referring to the Parousia in
tenns ofthe high priest's exit from the holy ofholies. 164 This interpretation
is appealing, especially in the framework of a Yom Kippur typology. In
this eschatological conception of time, the author does not refer explicitly
to a special (future) Day of Atonement, rather the final time period of the
universe has arrived. 165 Considering that the comniunity is presently suffering and expecting the high priest to reappear, the whole eschaton has
become a period of atonement, analogous to the period of affliction at
Qumran.I66
E.g., vuvi. in 8:6 and vuvi 5 ii1tal; S1ti c:ruv-cel..siq. -cdlv ai6)V(:ov in 9:26.
Heb 10:25.
16 1 Heb 7:27; 9:(7).12.26.28; 10:10.
162 Heb 9:7; Lev 16:34.
163 AU instances are in the perfect or aorist tense.
164 Cf. the Greek: 0 XplO'tbt; iiltal; rcpoaevereri<; eit; -cO rcolJ..dlv civevsyx:eiv O.J.lap-cia<; EK 5Eu'tpou xmpV; ci~apti.at; Otp6l]ae1:a1 -roi<; ain:Ov circex:StxOJ.lSVot<; ei<; aon11piav. W.L. Lane, Hebrews 9-13 (Word Biblical Commentary 47B; Dall~ [Tex.], 1991}, p. 250 (following
various predecessors), refers to Lev 16:17 and Sir 50:5-10.24-28; contrary to H.W.
Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Heirneneia; Philadephia, 1989), p. 266, note 72. In
niy opinion, Lane's case is much stronger, since Yom Kippur is the main topic of the
-- 'Context.
~:-I6S Heb 9:9-10 seems to distinguish between the present and the eschatological future~
_ but the rest of the Epistle makes clear that the author considers himself and his addressees to be in the eschaton: see Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 241.
-"'~ For the sufferings, see e.g. 10:32-39; 12:1-12; 13:13. For the expectation of
Christ's return, see 9:28, and cf. p. 99, above.
IS9
160
2.2.2 Sacred Space: The Heavenly Sanctuary

Hebrews uses geographical aspects of Yom Kippur in its typology: a
sanctuary with a holy of holies, and the camp and area outside it. 167 Scholars are divided about the background of this conception of a heavenly
sanctuary, especially about the comparison of the earthly tabernacle to its
heavenly counterpart. While a number of scholars opt for a Platonic background, 168 the conception seems to be closer to apocalyptic thought. 169
Only this wonld explain the heavenly sanctuary being the place of God's
fiery presence, where he is surrounded by angels, the righteous and
Jesus. 170 It is the place of a superior liturgy. 171 Corresponding roughly 172 to
the earthly sanctuary, the heavenly sanctuary has two parts 173 separated by
L
i
'
183
a veil. 174 These features appear in such apocalyptic texts as I Enoch and
Testament of Levi. 115 A Platonic conception would demand an exact correspondence between the earthly type and its heavenly idea.
Hebrews' terminology certainly has a (middle-)Platonic ring. 176 On the
other hand, the use of other terms is not consistent with conventional
(middle-)Platonism. 177 Hebrews may even use a word with the opposite
meaning, such as imoOcl:y~a for the earthly copy instead of the heavenly
idea, 178 causing Gregory Sterling to comment: "Its use would force a phi-
Lev 16:16.20 even uses the same peculiar words, tit ciyta, for the holy of holies. This
explanation is much-nlore cogent than is interpreting Otd in 9:11 instrumentally and 8:2 as
a hendiadys.
174 On the veil, see the classic by Hofius, Der Vorhang vor dem Thron Gottes; Rissi,
Die Theologie des Hebrderbriefs, pp. 41-43; Loader, Sohn und Hoherpriester, pp. 174178; and the commentaries to Heb 6:19-20; 10:19-20.
m See above, pp. 82-84. However, it is unclear how many heavens exist in the cosmology of the author of Hebrews, and whether or not the sanctuary is located in a specific
place, i.e. the highest heaven. This was suggested by Hofius, Der Vorhang vor dem
Thron Gottes, pp. 70-71, basing his proposition on the sudden use of the singular of
oitpav<k; in 9:24, similar to Testament of Levi 5:1. Otherwise Hebrews uses the plural
(1:10; 4:14; 7:26; 8:1; 9:23; 12:23.25). The two other uses of the singular are easily explained: Heb 11:12 may reflect that the stars belong to a certain heaven, while 12:2~ is a
quotation of Hag 2:26. Both passages consider this heaven to be part of lower tran~1tory
creation ("der verganglichen SchOpfung"). However, it is more difficult to explam the
plural in 8:1, where Christ, the high priest and minister of the true tent, sits to the right of
God, i.e. supposedly in the highest heaven.
176 The earthly tabernacle is a shadow of the image of the things (airttiv ttiv iK0vo: t&v
1tpay~Cnrov). sketch and shadow (im:oOeiy~an ui OKtCj.) of the true heavenly tent (oKrtvft
cii-.rt&tvft), or a man-made anti-type of the true (O.vtiturta tffiv cilrt6tvdlv), divine~y
constructed model (n'mo<;;). Cf. the expressions o:irtd tO. &rtoupO.vta and aUtOv tOv otipavov
(Heb 8:1-5; 9:23-24; 10:1). See Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 261-263. For
similarities to Philonic Platonism, see e.g. H.-F. Weiss, Der Brief an die Hebriier
(Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar fiber das Neue Testament 13; Gottingen, 1991),
p. 438.
177 See Hurst, The Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 7-42, especially 13-21. He points out
e.g. that ciA:qewft is not necessarily Platonic (20-21) and that im:oOeir11a is not used in this
sense by Philo or Plato, the common word being 1tapci0etrl1 (13) (see next note).
178 Heb 8:5; 9:23. Platonists may use im:oOeir~a to describe the heavenly idea rather
than the earthly shadow. The LXX prefers 1tapO-Oetr11a when talking of the heavenly
pattern (Exod 25:9 [2*], see David's "plan" in 1Chr 28:11.12.18.19) or tim:os (Exod 25:40). Both terms are more consistent with Platonic terminology. On the other hand,
imoOeir~a in Hebrews may reflect Ezek 42:15, who speaks in his vision of measuring the
eschatological model/ example of the temple (Ot1.1-hPrtoev 0 im:OOetyp.a mo oiKou). See
G.E. Sterling, "Ontology versus Eschatology: Tensions between Author and Community
in Hebrews,'' Studia Philonica Annual 13 (In the Spirit of Faith. Studies in Philo and
Early Christianity in Honor of David Hay) (Leiden, 2001; pp. 190-211) [I only had a
167
See Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 222-224; C.K. Barrett, ..The Escha~
tology of the Epistle to the Hebrews," in: D. Daube and W.O. Davies (eds.), The Background of the New Testament and Its Eschatology. Festschrift for C.H. Dodd(Cambridge
[UK], 1956; pp. 363-393), pp. 383-390. C.R. Koester, The Dwelling of God The Taber-
nacle in the Old Testament, Intertestamental Jewish Literature and the New Testament
(Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Monograph Series 22; Washington, D.C., 1989); 0. Hofius,
Der Vorhang vor dem Thron Gottes."'-Eine exegetisch-religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchung zu Hebrder 6,I9f und 10,19/ (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen
Testament 14; Tfibingen, 1972), pp. 50-72. Unfortunately, A. Cody, Heavenly Sanctuary
and Liturgy in the Epistle to the Hebrews (St. Meinrad, 1960) was not available to me.
168
Most notably C. Spicq, L 'ipitre aux Hibreux (2 vols; Etudes Bibliques; Paris,
1952/53); and Koester, The Dwelling of God, passim. C. Koester has adjusted his views
his recent commentary, Hebrews. A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary
(Anchor Bible 36; New York, 2001), pp. 97-100.
169
The main promoters of apocalypticism as background are Barrett, "The Eschatology
of the Epistle to the Hebrews"; 0. Michel, Der Brief an die Hebrtier (Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar fiber das Neue Testament 13; Gottingen, 1960); and especially L.D.
Hurst, The Epistle to the Hebrews. Its Background of Thought (Society for New Testament Studies, Monograph Series 65; Cambridge [UK], 1990), who overstates the evidence in denying any Platonic influence.
170 Heb 10:12; 12:22-24.29.
171
Heb 8:2.6 and Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 262.
171
See Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, p. 16, for
the suggestion that the superior heavenly sanctuary cannot be an exact model of the
earthly one.
113
See W.R.G. Loader, Sohn und Hoherpriester (Wissenschaftliche Monographien
zum Alten Wld Neuen Testament 53; Neukirchen-VIuyn, 1981), p. 183; and M Rissi, Die
Theologie des Hebrderbrieft (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
41; Tilbingen, 1987), pp. 37-41. Heb 9:11-12 describes Jesus passing through the tent
(Oui tfis ~e~ovos Kai uletottpas OKTtvfls) and entering the holy of holies (eis td ciyta). The
same imagery probably stands behind the two expressions in Heb 8:2 (t&v dyirov
i-.ttoupr0s Kai tf\S CJKTtvflS tf\s 0.ATt6tvfls). Hofius, Der Vorhang vor dem Thron Gottes,
pp. 59-60, has demonstrated that the mention of the holy of holies before the sanctuary
reflects the same order as in the purification of the tabernacle on Yom Kippur.
.ik
losopher to grimace." 179 If Hebrews' use of intoSe:inm was influenced by

the Septuagint (Ezekiel 42: 15), then this is simply another argument for
the influence of apocalyptic conceptions of a heavenly temple, Ezekiel's
vision. Moreover, the statement that the heavenly sanctuary was pitched by
God and had to be cleansed speaks against the Platonic conception of eternal ideals. 180 In sum, Hebrews' concept of a heavenly sanctuary can be
characterized as apocalyptic thought disguised as the language of popular
Platonism.
2.2 The High Priest and His Actions
The central argument of Hebrews 7 is the superiority of Christ's high

priesthood "according to the order of Melchizedek" over the Levitical high
priests. Christ is the one and eternal high priest, 181 as opposed to the great
number of mortal Levitical priests and high priests, who change frequently.
Christ the high priest is holy, blameless, undefiled (7:26). Other chapters
add further attributes: Christ is merciful and trustful (2:17), sinless (4:15),
and perfect (5:8). While he has been tempted like other humans and been
subjected to painful afflictions, he resisted and has no part in sin (5:8).
pre-published version available]. But also in Ezekiel intog&iri-La signifies the envisaged
eschatological sanctuary not an existing building.
179 Sterling, "Ontology versus Eschatology."
Jsn See Heb 8:2 for the pitching and 9:23 for the cleansing. It is unclear when exactly it
was erected. It had existed at least since Moses (8:5). The cleansing is a strange idea, but
only if one considers the heavenly holy of holies perfect and unchangeable. The only
reason for defilement of the heavenly sanctuary can be human sins. If sins can defile the
earthly holy of holies, which is never entered other than to be purified, the concept that
sins can equally defile a heavenly holy of holies is only a small step further. Accordingly,
Christ's sacrifice purifies not our earthly bodies but our conscience, which equally
cannot be reached by blood, and the true sanctuary (1 :3; 9:14).
181
Christ's high priesthood is &if: -cOv airova (5:6), but not tiaO -rOOv aicOvrov, i.e. his high
priesthood is not preexistent, since he was appointed (3 :2; 5 :5) - a crux in the Arian
controversy. When did it begin? With his incarnation (see the list of scholars given by
Loader, Sohn und Hoherpriester, p. 246, note 24, including himself, p.247), or with his
death (see the list of scholars given by Loader, Sohn und Hoherpriester, p. 245, note 18)?
Loader and Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 146, argue against the widely held
opinion that the exaltation was the beginning. We cannot reach a definite answer.
Possibly, Hebrews combined contradicting traditions. Moreover, if Christ is high priest
after the order of Melchizedek, this presupposes, there once was a (high) priest Melchizedek, ie~ do; -cO ~tl]VG!d:.; I ⁣ -cOv aiOOva (Heb 7:3.17; Ps 110:4). Was a Michael-like
Melchizedek serving in the heavenly sanctuary? If not he, who else, if anyone at all?
Before Enoch entered the holiest area of the heavenly sanctuary, there does not seem to
have been an earlier high priest.
185
Hebrews describes this high priest as performing five acts that can be
.ated with Yom Kippur: (I) victory over the forces of evil, 182 (2) the
"" 183 f h"
assoCl
.
.
..,.,.
confession, (3) the one-11me atonmg and pun~ 1 mg o.uenng o ts. o~
blood and its sprinkling, 184 ( 4) the entry into the heavenly holy of hohes
186
and (5) the permanent in~erces~ion for his followers. Acts 3 and 4 appear
in all commentaries as high-pnestly works, acts 2 and 5 m some, and act I
is mY addition.
1. Earlier, we investigated the apocalyptic myt~ of an ~schatological Yom
Ki pur in 1Enoch and II QMelchizedek. 187 A Similar p1cture of a redeemer
defeats the lord of the evil forces and liberates his prisoners is found
in Hebrews: 188
w:o
14 Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared
the same things, so that through death he might destroy (u-rapyf)cru) the one who
has the power of death, that is, the devil (-cOv StO:~oA.ov), IS and free (cinaU.0:1;1J)
189
those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.
Of course, the general concept of an eschatological conquest of evil is

widespread in Jewish apocalyptic circles, 190 and similar ideas appear else-
Heb 2:14-15; and probably 9:26.

Heb 7:27; 9:14; 9:25; 10:11-18, cf. also e.g. 10:10.
184 Heb 10:22; cf. 9:13.19.21; 12:24.
185 Heb 6:19; 9:24; 10:19.
186 Heb 7:25; and more subtle 2:18; 4:14; 9:24.
1111 See above, pp. 85-92.
.
1ss Otto Michel assumes that Hebrews adopted a tradition in 2:14-15 (85) wtthout
greatly reformulating it. He gives two reasons for this assump~:on. Ther~ are ~ nwnber_ of
words Hebrews does not use elsewhere, and the exact "how of the hberatron remams
opaque. (Michel mentions xmapyioo and StltfioM.; and one. could add O:nanO:aaro. Oo~A&ia
and Kpir.-co.;. But of course this is not a certain indication, smce Hebrews could be usmg a
special vocabulary to express a special idea.)
189 Heb2:14-15;NRSV.
191l Lohse, Miirtyrer und Gottesknecht, pp. 163-167; Loader, Sohn und Hoherpriester,
pp. 112-115, especially p. 113; and Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 92. Testament of Simon 6:6; Testament of Levi 18; Testament of Dan 5:Io-I1; Testament of Zebulon 9:8; I Enoch 10:13; 11QMelchizedek; War Scroll i: 11-17. I do not see any reason
to suppose a Gnostic background for these verses, as has been suggested by E. Klisemann, Das wandernde Gottesvolk. Eine Untersuchung zum Hebriierbrief (Forschungen
3
zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments 55; Gottingen, 1959),
pp. 99-100, and as Erich Grasser has recently stressed anew: see E. Grasser, An die
f!ebriier. Vol. I: Hebr J-6 (Evangelisch-Katholischer Kommentar 17/1; NeukirchenVluyn and Zilrich, 1990). Any proximity to Gnostic texts rather points to the Jewish
apocalyptic background, which influenced Hebrews as well as Gnosticism.
t8'2
183
where in the New Testament. 191 The closest parallels to Hebrews, however,
which talk of destruction of the dark forces and liberation of their
prisoners, are 1Enoch 10 and 11 QMelchizedek. In Hebrews as well as in
the latter two texts the redeemer is a high priest and the act of redemption
is connected to an eschatological Yom Kippur. 192 The central difference
between 1Enoch 10 and II QMe/chizedek on the one hand and Hebrews on
the other is that in the former two it is not the death of the redeemer figure
that destroys the lord of evil and liberates his prisoners, but his military
power. The idea of the high priest sacrificing himself is a development of
Hebrews, which clothed the traditional imagery of an eschatological Yom
Kippur in the Christian proprium of a messianic self-sacrifice.
The situation of the addressees of Hebrews makes it clear that the battle
has only just begun and victory over the forces of evil is not yet complete.193 The community faces the danger of apostates, who have no
opportunity for a second repentance, have lost any chance of salvation, and
are counted among the adversaries (oi ilm:vaniot) of Christ. 194 The heavenly Christ is still awaiting the time in which "his enemies" (oi Sxapoi
avwv) will be made a footstool for his feet. 195 This ambivalent already-begun-but-not-yet-resumed redemption resembles the eschaton in the past of
I Enoch !0.
187
According to this view, Christ actually performed a high-priestly action on

earth before his crucifixion. This interpretation is explicitly denied in
Hebrews 8:4a, which states: "Now if he were on earth, he would not be a
priest at all." Nevertheless, the high-priestly figure well matches the context of Hebrews 4:15-5:10, where the author juxtaposes the Levitical high
priest with Christ. We should not measure the consistency of the Epistle to
the Hebrews by the standards of a systematic theologian. The verb npoacppro, which often appears in a cultic context, invites a cultic inter;..
pretation. By depicting Christ as sinless, Hebrews amplifies the polemical
overtones in the juxtaposition of Christ with Aaron. 198 The imagery of the
high-priestly action may hover in the background, yet Jesus (before his
death) was most probably not conceived a high priest.
3 and 4. Christ's blood sacrifice (re)inaugurates the sanctuary and purifies
and atones the believers. However, purification and atonement seem to be
"only" the means for achieving the ''real" purpose, entry into the holy of
holies. The special blood rite in the holy of holies, central to Second Temple Judaism, bas been completely transformed and conflated with other
rites involving the sprinkling of blood. Christ's high-priestly, purifying
self-sacrifice is merely preparation for the opening of the previously concealed entrance to God's presence in the real holy of holies. 199 This will
purify the believers, enabling them to follow their npoopo~o<; Christ into
the holy ofholies. 200
Rather than alluding to Yom Kippur's sprinkling on the veil and on the
kapporet, Hebrews typologizes a conflation of four rituals or events: Yom
Kippur (Leviticus 16), the Red Heifer (Numbers 19), the institution of the
covenant (Exodus 24), and the ordination of the priests (Leviticus 8) 201
2. Some exegetes see in Hebrews 5:7, where Christ implores God to save
him from death, a reference to the high priest's confession of his own sins
on Yom Kippur. 196
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up (xpom:vkyKa~) prayers and supplications
(~e~ot1~ ''" Kai iKt"t"T]pia~), with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to
save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 197
19 For when every commandment had been told to an the people by Moses in
accordance with the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and
scarlet wool and.hyssop, and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, 20
saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you." 21 And
in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used
in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and
without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
191
The destruction of sin without liberation appears with quite similar wording (a combination of Ka"tapykro and flavin~) in I Cor 15:26 and 2Tim I: 10.
192
Hebrews' verses would align even better with Yom Kippur if the destruction of evil
included the destruction of sin as for example in !Enoch 10:10-16. Some exegetes see
"death" in Heb 2:14-15 as a kind of Pauline metaphor for sin. Attridge, The Epistle to the
Hebrews, pp. 92-93, turns against this reading. Hebrews connects the destruction of sin
to his self-sacrifice, as he states later: "But as it is, he -has appeared once for all at the end
of the age to put away (ti~ O.llh11atv) sin by the sacrifice of himself' (9:26b).
193
Michel, Der Brief an die Hebriier, pp. 226-227.
194
Heb 10:27; cf. Isa26:11 LXX.
195
Heb I 0:13; cf. Ps 110: I. Paul, too, uses Ps II 0:1 to describe the eschatological
victory (I Cor 15:25); for him however, the battle is yet to begin.
196
See the list of scholars in Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 149, note 152,
and add Grasser, An die Hebriier, vol. l, p. 298.
191
Heb 5:7, NRSV.
198
Gr~sser, An die Hebriier, vol. l, p. 298 contra Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews,
p. 149.
199
Heb 9:9; 10:19.
200
Heb 1:3.13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; see below, p. 189.
201 Heb 9:15-22, cf. 9:13.19.21; Heb 10:22; 12:24. Cf. Ezek 36:25-26, which reflects a
similar mixture of Lev 16, Num 19 and Exod 24: see Zimmerli, Ezechiel, p. 879; Young,
"The Impact of the Jewish Day of Atonement upon the Thought of the New Testament,''
pp. 214-242.
Some exegetes have accused Hebrews of displaying ignorance, but Horbury, in particular, has argued convincingly that the author often uses Second Temple traditions.22 The Red Heifer, the institution of the covenant,
and the ordination of Aaron and his sons were often associated with Yom
Kippur. 203 In the temple ritual, the high priest was sprinkled with water
mixed with the ashes of the Red Heifer during the preparation week204 The
Red Heifer appears as a high-priestly ritual in close juxtaposition with
Yom Kippur/05 and was probably performed by the high priest.206 Qumran
and the rabbinic texts connect the ordination of the priests and Yom Kippur,207 while in Tannaitic sources the renewal of the covenant after the
golden calf was clearly associated with Yom Kippur 208 Deviation from the
ritual of Yom Kippur is therefore only relative. The motifs connected to
the ritual are not determined solely by Hebrews' theological exigencies,
but they do reflect Yom Kippur traditions present in Second Temple
Judaism.
There are further deviations from the temple ritual. For instance, Hebrews does not specify the place in which the blood is sprinkled. It is not
the holy of holies. The sprinkling is performed neither by the high priest
nor by Moses, but by the, believers themselves. The object of this
sprinkling is spiritnalized as the conscience of the believers (10:22bc):
"having sprinkled our hearts from an evil conscience and washed our
bodies with pure water." This passage almost certainly links the sprinkling
of the blood to baptism, the initiation ritual of the new covenant. 209 The
new people are prepared by a purification ritual that cleanses body, hearts
and conscience prior to entering the holy of holies and the presence of God
(see below).
From the opening verses of the Epistle, which refer to the purification
of the incense altar on Yom Kippur as described in Exodus 30: I 0, it
becomes clear that for Hebrews the entry into the holy of holies is
201 W. Horbury, The Aaronic Priesthood in the Epistle to the Hebrews," Journal for
the Study of the New Testament 19 (1983) 43-71.
203 On the Red Heifer and Yom Kippur, see especially Horbury, The Aaronic
Priesthood in the Epistle to the Hebrews," pp. 51-52.
2M mParah 3:1, cf. p. 29 note 46.
205
E.g. Barnabas 7-8.
206 See Josephus, Antiquitates judaicae 4:79; and Philo, De specialibus legibus I :268,
who ascribe different parts of the ritual to the high priest. According to Josephus he slays
the heifer and according to Philo he sprinkles its blood.
207
See Knohl and Naeh, "Milu'im veK.ippurim."
208
See above, p. 122.
209
Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 289; Lane, Hebrews 9-13, p. 287.
189
secondary to the purification of the sanctuary and the followers by the

blood rite: 210
1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all
things, through whom he also created the worlds.
3 He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being,
and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification
for sins (Ka6aptoJ.lOv -crov 0.~-tap-nrov :norqaii:~-tev~), he sat down at the right hand of
the Majesty on high (SKit6mev Sv Sel;l~ "tf)<; J.l&yaA.rom'lVll<; &v invf1Ao1<;), 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent
than theirs. 211
The purification of the incense altar signifies the end of the purification
rites. 212 The use of the aorist 1tOtT}aliJ.I.EVa<_; underscores this. 213 Accordingly,
the purification was completed before Christ sat down in the holy of
bolies.2I 4 This turns upside down Leviticus 16, where the entry is the
precondition for the purification sprinkling. Also, the intercessionary
prayer does not follow the order of the temple ritnal. It is supposed to take
place in the last act of the first entrance before the blood rites in the second
and third entrances.215 Both inversions of the ritual sequence demonstrate
that the typology is subject to the main aim of Hebrews, the entrance into
the presence of God in the heavenly holy of holies.
5. In the holy of holies, the l.et<oupyo<; Christ performs a heavenly liturgy
(8:2.6) and intercedes permanently for his followers. 216 Intercession was
21
Cf. B. Heininger, "Siindenreinigung (Hebr 1,3). Christologische Anmerkungen zum
Exordium des Hebraerbriefs," Bib/ische Zeitschrift [NF.] 41 (1997) 54-68, especially
p. 61~ Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 46, note 132. It may also mean that the
people were ordained as priests of the priestly people, as perhaps in I Pet I :2; 2:4-5?
211 Heb I: 1-4, NRSV.
212 On Yom Kippur, the purification of the incense altar, which is usually conceived of
as standing outside the holy of holies, happens after the entrance to and purification of
the holy of holies (Lev 16: 18-20). In Hebrews, the altar of incense stands in the holy of
holies (Heb 9:3-4). This may be based on tradition - 2Baruch 6:7, 2Macc 2:5 and the
Samaritan Pentateuch, which places Exod 30:1-10 between verses 35 and 36 ofExod 26.
This caused some scholars to assume a Samaritan origin of the Epistle; against this see
the chapter on possible Samaritan influences in Hurst, The Epistle to the Hebrews.
213
While in Exod 30:10 the object of purification is clearly the altar of incense,
Hebrews does not in this sentence mention a specific object of purification, i.e. the
people or the sanctuary. This purification includes both: see Heb 9:23 and 10:22.
214
See Young, "The Impact of the Jewish Day of Atonement upon the Thought of the
New Testament," pp. 217-218.
215
See above, p. 30.
216
"Wherefore, he [Christ] is able also to save completely those who approach God
through him, since he lives always, to intercede on their behalf." Heb 7:25; less explicit
not exclusively connected to Yom Kippur since many religious actor~~ .e;.g.
prophets and martyrs, could intercede before God. But intercession belonged primarily among the high-priestly acts and especially to Yom
Kippur. "C'est surtout autour de Ia liturgie de Kippur, et cela probablement
deja a date ancienne, que se developperont les themes de !'intercession
sacerdotale."217 Moreover, the general framework of the Epistle makes the
Yom Kippur connection highly probable. This permanent intercession
complements the once-and-for-all atonement sacrifice. Since it is not
stated anywhere that the intercession is for the sins, it does not entail a
contradiction to the once-and-for-all atonement by sacrifice. Thus Christ's
intercession may be concerned with divine support of the community in its
present suffering and suppression. 218
2.3 The Participation of the People

Three scenes express the involvement of the community in the highpriestly ritual: the spectators waiting for the high priest's exit from the
holy of holies, a second, eschatological, entry of the people into the holy of
holies, and the imitation of the assistant who leaves the camp to bum the
remains of the cow and the goat.
1. Hebrews describes the Second Parousia, evoking the imagery of the

people waiting for the exit of the high priest from the holy of holies: "so
Christ ... will appear a second time ... to save those who are eagerly waiting for him (tole; aim)v cbtsK~SX.OJ.li:votc; de; aonnpiav)." 219 In this instance,
Hebrews used extra-biblical knowledge about Yom Kippur 220
2. A main concern of Hebrews is to describe the people joining the high
priest in his entrance. 221
Yom Kippur Imagery in the Early Christian !maginaire
191
God, 22 [therefore] let us approach (xpoaEPXril~sea) with a true heart in fullness of

faith, having sprinkled our hearts from an evil conscience and washed our bodies
with pure water. 222
Jesus represents both the way (olio<;) to the holy of holies and the curtain
(Kata1tstclaJ.la)223 before it. As the way, Jesus has a "positive," opening
function, while the curtain, his flesh, obstructs or conceals. The entrance
opened by Jesus' blood helps to overcome the obstacle of the flesh, 224 in
order to enter into the presence of God. The atonement is therefore only a
necessary preparatory step to the true aim, the entrance to the presence of
God in the heavenly sanctuary. The cultic character of the picture is supported by two words, olKo~ and npoaspx.00J.1s9a, which point to a cultic
context. 215
The author exhorts the baptized/ordained to participate in the worship
led by the high priest Christ and to "not neglect the common meetings"
(I 0:25). Does the worship of this Christian Jewish community encompass
a ritual symbolizing the joining of the community of Christ in his approach
to God?226 The interpretation that the approach is effected by Christian
Jewish ritual already in present time is countered by an eschatological line
as proposed by Hebrews 6:19-20:
We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters
the inner shrine behind the curtain (ci<; -rO OOOn:spov -roU Ka-raltS'tUop.a-ro<;), 20 where
Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever
according to the order ofMelchizedek.227
6:19
Jesus is the forerunner of the community, which is to follow later on. A

similar oscillation between present mystic ritual and eschatological
redemption also appears in the Valentinian texts discussed below. As we
shall see, the alternatives need not be mutually exclusive.
IO:t9 Therefore, brothers, since we have the boldness (1tappTJaiav) for an entrance
into the holy of holies (titv eiaoOov -r&v Ctyirov) by means of the blood of Jesus, 20
which he inaugurated for us as a new and living way through the curtain, i.e. his
flesh, 21 and [since we have] a great priest (iEpa ~Syav) over the house (oh:ov) of
3. A third depiction of the community is the exit of the assistant who

burned the fat of the sin offerings outside the camp (13:13), which is
transferred to Jesus and the people.
also in 2:18; 4:14-16; 9:24. For the tradition of Christ as heavenly advocate, see also
Rom 8:34; IJohn 2:1.
217
R. Le Deaut, "Aspects de !'intercession dans le judaisme ancien,"' Journal for the
Study of Judaism 1 (1970) 35-57, here p. 46.
218
Loader, Sohn und Hoherpriester, pp. 142-151, especially 147.
219
Heb 9:28; Sir 50:5. This observation was made also by Lane, Hebrews 9-13, p. 250.
220
The author also exhibits elsewhere acquaintance with extra-biblical traditions, even
about Yom Kippur, e.g. the high-priestly intercession (Heb 7:25) or the victory over the
ruler of the forces of darkness (Heb 2: 14-15).
22l Heb 4:16; 6:20; 10:22.
My translation ofHeb 10:19-22 based on NRSV and Attridge.

Has the Otft to be understood instrumentally to the verb (a way inaugurated by
means of the curtain) or locally to the noun (a way across the curtain)? The usual
interpretation is the fanner. See the commentaries on this passage.
224
A word also associated elsewhere in Hebrews with negative terms: see Heb 2:14;
5:7; 7:16; 9:10. Few exegetes take -rom l:a<tv 1"fj<; aapr.:O<; aVtoii to be an apposition to 00&;
instead of r.:a-raxE-rfto~a. See Lane, Hebrews 9-13, p. 275.
225
Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 288.
226
Was this done in a way similar to the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice?
221 Heb 6:19-20, NRSV.
222
223
11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy of holies
(eU; "tit Uyto.} by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin (upi iqlap"ti(t(;) are burned
outside the camp (f;ro "ti\c; n:o.pej.l~li\c;). 12 Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the
city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood. 13 Let us then go to him
outside the camp (fl;ro "ti'jc; 1tapej.l~olftc;) and bear his insult ("t(w Own3mj10v o.irroilqti
povrec;). t4 For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is
to come. 228
According to Leviticus 16:27, the remains of the sacrificial goat are

burned outside the camp in order to preserve its sanctity. Hebrews applies
this to Jesus, who sanctified the people (in the camp) by suffering outside
it. Yet, as Helmut Koester pointed out, this also refers to Leviticus 16:28,
which speaks of the person who had to leave the camp in order to burn
those bodies 229 Anybody who left the camp became unclean and could
return only after being sanctified by washing his clothes and his body.
Hebrews inverts these categories. The author exhorts his readers to leave
the camp after Jesus sanctified them by his suffering outside the camp. The
sanctification is no longer a condition to enter the camp but to leave it.
Such a centrifugal concept of sacred space is a parody of the conventional
understanding of sacred geography built on centripetal increase.
What does the author me~ by "leaving the camp"? Most commentaries
mention two possible interpretations: a) leaving Judaism or b) leaving the
sensual world. In my opinion, the next verse (13:14), with the admonition
to wait for the unworldly city, makes a third option possible, allowing for
the possibility that the addressee of the Epistle was the community of
Jerusalem: that the author is asking his audience in a concrete, geographical sense to leave Jerusalem and its temple and wait for the real, future
sacred space. 230
228
Heb 13:11-14, NRSV, slightly altered.

H. Koester, '"Outside the Camp': Hebrews 13:9-14," Harvard Theological Review
55 (1962) 299-317. Cf., in contrast, M.E. Isaacs, "Hebrews 13.9-16 Revisited," New
Testament Studies 43 (1997) 268-284.
230
Another question is whether i2;epxffil.le9o. npO~ o.ircOv fl;ro "tfic; napej.ll}oi..i'jc; "t0v
Ovel3taJ.10v o.in:oiliJlipovrec; has to be understood as imitation of Christ as a sacrificial goat
or is a typology of the scapegoat. The latter interpretation may be valid, but there are few
indications of it other than the march outside the camp carrying "t0v Ovet8taJ.10v o.irtOii~
which could refer to the cursing of the scapegoat. The march outside the camp matches
the scapegoat better than the sacrificial goat, which is already dead when its remains are
carried out. However, the LXX uses lo.111Ktvro and not wipro for expressing ''to carry." In
sum, if the author of Hebrews wanted to allude to Lev 16 he did not establish sufficient
leads to it. The proximity to the suffering of Jesus outside the camp in the previous verse
makes it more probable that Heb 13:13 is an ecclesiological imitatio of Christ as
sacrificial goat
229
Yom Kippur Imagery in the Early Christian Jmaginaire
193
2.4 Conclusions Regarding the High Priest in Hebrews
According to the myth of Hebrews, by his death, the high priest Christ
conquered the devi1, 231 "passed through the heavens,"232 and somehow
purified the heavenly sanctuary233 on entering with his blood the heavenly
holy ofholies. 234 There he took his place to the right of God and intercedes
on behalf of his followers. 235 He is expected to come back at the end of
days in the not too distant future, 236 in order to resume the fight against the
evil powers and to liberate his afflicted community,237 purified by baptism,
and lead them into the presence of God in the holy of holies 238
The author of Hebrews employs various sources in creating his typological myth. He is inspired by the Bible, as can be seen in the focus on the
tabernacle (and not the temple) and in formnlations imitating Leviticus 16.
Yet the Bible is by no means the only fount of his wisdom-'39 The intercession, the solemn exit from the holy of holies and the conflation of the
sprinklings belong to Second Temple ritual and the imaginaire of Yom
Kippur, and he probably borrowed the victory over the lord of evil and the
liberation of his good prisoners from the apocalyptic imaginaire of Yom
Kippur. As in Qumran, Hebrews sees the current period of afflictions as a
Mo'ed Kippur, a period of atonement, which began with Jesus' death and
will end with his Parousia.
Despite the extensive use of Yom Kippur typology in Hebrews, it is
clear that its author did not intend to provide a complete typology of Yom
Kippur. 240 Central issues of Yom Kippur are absent: there is no mention of
the incense sacrifice, 241 the scapegoat or the high priest's changing of
clothes. The Old Testament <mt<><; rarely caused Hebrews to add a biblical
detail to its myth. 242 The author of Hebrews has chosen those elements that
"'
"'
Heb 2:14-15.
Heb4:14.
Heb 9:23.
234 Heb 9.
Heb 7:25.
236 Heb 9:28.
Heb 2:14-15.
Heb 10:19-22.
239
Many scholars accused the author of Hebrews of ignorance of Jewish matters, but
most of his peculiar material is based on Second Temple traditions. See Horbwy, "The
Aaronic Priesthood in the Epistle to the Hebrews."
240
Loader, Sohn und Hoherpriester, p. 244.
241
Does the unusual mention of the incense altar among the furnishings of the holy of
holies (Heb 9:4) allude to the high-priestly incense sacrifice (Lev 16:12-13)?
242
Weiss on Heb 9:23: "DaB im Rahmen dieser Entsprechung von irdischen und
himmlischen Dingen bzw. im Rahmen der Entsprechung von Urbild und Abbild unter der
Oberscbrift des AvCty.c11 oiiv (Sa"tiv) auch die S1toupctvto. 1einer .,Reinigung" bediirfen, ist in
"'
"'
"'
'"
suit his aims: to comfort the afflicted community by revealing that the
period of suffering is a temporary one of awaiting the retorn of the high
priest after he has completed his intercessionary prayer in the presence of
God.
2.5 History ofTradition: The Role ofZechariah 3 in the Justification ofthe

High-Priestly Christology before Hebrews
In this section I want to suggest that Zechariah 3 and its connection to the
apocalyptic imaginaire of Yom Kippur was one of the key texts in the earliest stage in the development of the concept of a high-priestly Christology
before Hebrews 243 In his detailed analysis of the tradition of the high
priesthood, William Loader suggested that Yom Kippur entered this tradition at a late stage and then served as a frame for binding together atonement and the interceding high priest. 244 In contrast, I propose that Yom
Kippur played a formative role for the high-priestly Christology already
before Hebrews.
Two observations strongly suggest that the high-priestly Christology
was not invented by the author of Hebrews but adopted from tradition. 245
First, Hebrews introduces Christ as a high priest in 2:17-18 without
previous preparation or explanation. The concept seems therefore to have
been known to its readers, most probably as part of a creed formula (3:1).
Second, a number of passages in early Christian texts that are independent
from Hebrews mention or allude to Christ as (high) priest,246 which is not
surprising, since it was not uncommon for Jews of the Second Temple
period to envisage a redeemer in (high) priestly terms. 247 Yet how could
Jesus, a Davidide, possibly be a high priest? Hebrews states explicitly: "It
der Tat ein eigenartiger Gedanke, als solcher am Ende nur von daher zu verstehen, daB
auch bier noch die Darstellung des irdischen ,Abbildes' in den VV. 19-22 die Aussagen
fiber das ,Urbild' bestimmt, Anzeichen zugleich dafilr, daB der Autor des Hebr dem
logischen Zwang eines konsequent durchgefilhrten Entsprechungsgedankens unterliegt. ~
(Weiss, Der Brief an die Hebrtier, pp. 483-484).
243
For this argument, see StOkl. "Yom Kippur in the Apocalyptic Imaginaire and the
Roots of Jesus' High Priesthood," pp. 362-366.
244
Loader, Sohn und Hoherpriester, pp. 200-202.
245
Cf. Attridge. The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 102.
:2% Ignatius, To the Philadelphians 9:1; Polycarp. To the Philippians 12:2; Martyrdom
ofPolycarp 14:3; I Clement 36; 61:3; 64. Some consider }Clement 36 and 61:3; 64 to be
dependent on Hebrews. According to Loader they are fixed liturgical formulae, which refer back to the same background as Hebrews: Loader, Sohn und Hoherpriester, p. 237.
Usually, Rev 1:13 and Barnabas 7:9 are conceived of as alluding to the high priesthood:
see e.g. Prostmeier, Der Barnabasbrie/, pp. 310-311.
247
See the passages and literature discussed in Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews,
pp. 97-101.
195
is manifest that our Lord has been sprung out of (the tribe of) Judah"
(7:14) and as Hebrews immediately goes on to say, this was a major
obstacle to any priestly career: "in regard to which tribe Moses said
nothing about priests." One of the main purposes of Hebrews is to resolve
this difficulty and to justify Jesus' high priesthood by "de-Levitizing" itthe author simply invented another priesthood KatO: -rtlv tO.l;tv MsA.xuJ1ieK.
This ingenious solution solved the problem for the author of Hebrews.
But how did those Christian Jews before Hebrews justify the high priesthood of Jesus? Hebrews' "de-Levitization" was as yet unknown. Another
possibility would have been to introduce a Levitical element into Jesus'
pedigree, i.e. to "Levitize'' Jesus. This approach was indeed taken, e.g. by
Hippolytus,Z48 but it was not yet suggested in the time of Hebrews and is
found ouly from the end of the second century.
I suggest that a third possible justification existed: a namesake of Jesus
in the Bible who is a high priest- such as Jesus/Joshua son of Jehozadak,
bnilder of the Second Temple in the time of Zerubbabel - could have been
used. Just as Jesus/Joshua son of Nun conferred characteristics and
functions on his namesake Jesus of Nazareth, the high priest Jesus son of
Jehozadak could also have conferred his qualities and functions on him.249
The high priest Jesus/Joshua son of Jehozadak, the only other important
Old Testament namesake of Jesus, 250 is mentioned in several Old
Testament passages. 251 Yet certain details suggest that among all the texts
mentioning Jesus son of Jehozadak:, it was the third chapter of Zechariah
that was used as a high-priestly Christological prooftext before Hebrews.
Had ouly the similarity of name been important, other passages mentioning
Joshua son of Jehozadak would have been referred to more often in the
New Testament. However, it is particularly the third chapter of Zechariah
that is alluded to or quoted in early Christian literature. Being the ouly
biblical source for a priestly Messiah, it must have had a special significance for Christians Jews interested in a priestly Christology. 252 This can
be supported by further arguments.
248 See the literature given in StOkl, "Yom Kippur in the Apocalyptic Imaginaire and
the Roots of Jesus' High Priesthood," p. 364, note 36.
249 See e.g. G.G. Stroumsa, "The Early Christian Fish Symbol Reconsidered," in: idem,
I. Gruenwald and S. Shaked (eds.), Messiah and Christos. Studies in the Jewish Origins
of Christianity [Festschrift D. Flusser] (Tfibingen, 1992; pp. 199-205).
250 In the first century CE, Jesus was a very common name. See StOkl, Yom Kippur in
the Apocalyptic Imaginaire and the Roots of Jesus' High Priesthood," pp. 364-365,
note 58, for other Old Testament namesakes of Jesus having mere "walk-on parts."
251 Zech 3; 6:9-15; Hag 1-2; Ezra 3-5.
252 The significance of the Jesus/Joshua son of Jehozadak type has long been
acknowledged. However, scholars often assume that the earliest explicit and extended
First, among the other New Testament passages alluding to Christ's

high priesthood, the Apocalypse of John 1:13, which mentions 1tOo~p~''
has the widest support.253 Usually Zechariah 3 is reckoned to be one of the
texts that form the background to this complex passage. 254
Second, the Yom Kippur typology in Barnabas, too, mentions noOftpn~
and alludes to Zechariah 3 and Jesus' high priesthood.255 This allusion had
most probably already appeared as part of the proto-typology, since in
Tertullian, Zechariah 3 is found in direct juxtaposition to the Yom Kippur
typology, and in Justin closely connected to it. 256 While the evidence for
the use of Zechariah 3 from the Apocalypse dates only as far back as the
end of the first century, the proto-typology emerged before the destruction
of the temple, perhaps as early as the thirties or forties. 257
Third, if Christian Jews inJagined Christ as high priest, this was almost
certainly within the categories customarily associated with the role of a
messianic high-priestly figure, a redeeming high priest close to I Enoch,
11 QMelchizedek and the Apocalypse of Abraham on an eschatological
Yom Kippur. As we have seen, the scene of the Apocalypse of Abraham
' also the earliest evidence of all. See J. Lecuyer,

mentions in Justin and Tertullian are
"Jesus, fils de JosCdec, et le Sacerdoce du Christ," Recherches de Science Religieu.se 43
(1955) 82-103; and C.-K. Wong, The Interpretation of Zechariah 3,4 and 6 in the New
Testament and Early Christianity" (Ph.D. dissertation, Westminster Theological
Seminary, 1992). The only scholar known to me who connects Hebrews and Zechariah is
F.C. Synge, Hebrews and the Scriptures (London, 1959), pp. 19-21.
253
Loader, Sohn und Hoherpriester, p. 226.
254
The strongest case against a priestly influence on Rev 1: l3 has been made in the
recent commentary by David Aune. He raises the following points: The Septuagint
translates xoO~Pll~ with five different items, ?!71J, 1~, 11~R. m~?n1J, )Wm; therefore, it is not
a terminus technicu.s. Second Temple sources (Testament of Levi 8:2-10; Philo, De vita
Mosis 2:109-110) use other Greek terms also to signify the priest's garment. Against
Aune. I would point out that all five Hebrew words behind the Septuagint xo0i!Pllt; refer
to a priestly item. The Second Temple sources referred to do not sustain his argument.
Testament of Levi 8:2-10 does not seem to understand much about the actual priestly
vestments, and Philo usually prefers xo0i!PT\t;, as Aune himself states. There are very few
cases in Jewish texts where x<M~Pllt; does not refer to a priestly garment or artifact.
Therefore, the allusion to the high priesthood was clear for any Greek reader of the
Septuagint. See now also E. Lupieri, "Apocalisse, sacerdozio e Yom Kippur," Annali di
Storia dell' Exegesi 19 (2002) 11-21.
:m Barnabas 7:9; see especially the excellent pages in Prostmeier, Der Barnabasbrief,
pp. 310-311; or e.g. Carleton Paget. The Epistle ofBarnabas, p. 140.
256
Skarsaune, The Prooffrom Prophecy. pp. 309-310.
257
See above, pp. 159-161. The names Y"IW' and YJ01;-r are close enough to be associated with each other even in Hebrew. There is therefore no support for the assumption
that this association of Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus son of Jehozadak was first perceived
in Greek writings (and therefore perhaps later).
197
Jinks Zechariah 3 to the apocalyptic imaginaire of Yom K.ippur. 258 If we

consider therefore that (non-Christian) Jews who belonged to an apocalyptic stream of thought used Zechariah 3 in association with Yom Kippur,
then a usage for typological purposes by Christian Jews, who betray an
influence of apocalypticism,259 becomes even more likely.
In light of these arguments, we can return to the central question of this
investigation. At what tinJe did Yom Kippur become associated with the
high-priestly Christology, and what was the function of this association?
Against Loader's model, which argues for a late point and a subordinate
framing function, my investigation suggests that Yom Kippur lies at the
root of Christ's high priesthood, which belongs to the Jewish tradition of
the eschatological high-priestly redeemer.
3. Christ as kapporet (iA.aa't~pwv): Romans 3:25--26

Romans 3:21-26 are among the most influential verses not only of Paul
but of the whole New Testament. Protestant exegesis, especially, regards
them as the apex of the theology of justification.260 There are few verses in
the New Testament about which more ink has been spilled.
25 8

E.g. the remains of the apocalyptic image of the high-priestly redeemer, who conquers the powers of evil (see above, pp. 185-186, on Heb 2:14-15).
260 My main sources for this section have been Kraus, Der Tod Jesu a/s Heiligtumsweihe; idem, "Der Jam Kippur, der Tad Jesu und die 'Biblische Theologie'. Ein Versuch,
die jildische Tradition in die Auslegung von ROm 3,25f einzubeziehen," in: I. Baldermann (ed.), Altes Testament und christlicher Glaube (Jahrbuch fUr Biblische Theologie
6; Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1991; pp. 157-172); Breytenbacb, Versiihnung, pp. 166-169; H.
Merklein, "Der Silbnetod Jesu nach dem Zeugnis des Neuen Testaments," in: H.P. Heinz
(ed.), VersOhnung in der jUdischen und christlichen Liturgie (Quaestiones Disputatae
124; Freiburg im Breisgau, 1990; pp. 155-183); H. Merklein, "Der Tod Jesu als
stellvertretender SUhnetod," in: idem, Studien zu Jesus und Paulus (Wissenschaftliche
Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 43; Ttibingen, 1987; pp. 181-191); idem, "Die
Bedeutung des Kreuzestodes Christi fUr die paulinische Gerechtigkeits- und Gesetzesthematik,"' in: idem, Studien zu Jesus und Paulu.s (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum
Neuen Testament 43; Ttibingen, 1987; pp. 1-1 06); P. Stuhlmacher, zur neueren Exegese
von Rom 3,24-26," in: idem, Versiihnung, Gesetz und Gerechtigkeit. Auftiitze zur
biblischen Theologie (GOttingen, 1981; pp. 117-135) (who discusses all older readings);
Young, "The Impact of the Jewish Day of Atonement upon the Thought of the New Testament," pp. 274-339; Lohse, Miirtyrer und Gottesknecht. See also D. Moo, The Epistle
to the Romans (New International Commentary to the New Testament; Grand Rapids
[Mich.], 1996); now also KnOppler, Sii.hne im Neuen Testament, pp. 112-172 and 314.
2s9
T
[.
!
199
1
But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed
and is attested by the law and the prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through
faith in!of!61 Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 since
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified by his grace
as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 2s whom God put forward
as atoning [cover of the ark of the covenant] (il.acn:f!p1ov) by his blood, effective
through [the]262 faith. He did this to show his righteousness, 26 because in his
divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to
prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one
who has faith in Jesus. 263
Rom 3:21
Wolfgang Kraus devoted a dissertation to these verses.264 Therefore, much

of my discussion will engage with his work. My discussion focuses on the
arguments for an association with Yom Kippur, especially via an analysis
of the meaning of l.A.acrt-ftpwv. Unlike most exegetes, who favor reading
this passage against the background of Yom Kippur, I do not see compelling reasons for understanding the passage as postulating an anti-temple
attitude or the abolishment of Yom Kippur by Paul. Yet it is aoother demonstration of the immense influence of Yom Kippur on the development
of the early Christian imaginaire of Jesus' death and its atoning function.
3.1 The Influence of Yom Kipp~r on Romans 3:25-26
Two opposing views have been proposed to explain the background of Romans 3:25-26. The first assumes a formative role for Leviticus 16,
referring to the cluster of kapporet, blood and sin (i.Aacr1:i)pwv, atJ.La and
a~apt~~a), which evokes the blood sprinkling in the holy of holies. The
second view rejects any involvement of "cultic" concepts and suggests as
background the idea of a vicarious atoning death of martyrs as expressed in
4Maccabees. This debate centers around two different interpretations of
261
It is possible to interpret the genitive as either subjectivus (of) or objectivus (in).
The context, however, makes the objectivus more probable.
262 The evidence is equally good for both readings. With the article: Papyrus 40 (third
century), Vaticanus (B, fourth cent.), and probably also 0219 (fourth to fifth cent.), the
third corrector of Codex Ephraemi rescriptus (C), the second corrector of the Claromontanus (D), Codex Athous Laurensis (',eighth-ninth cent.}, and the minuscel33 and
the majority text. Without the article: Sinaiticus (fourth cent.), the fust hands of the
Codices Ephraemi rescriptus (C, fifth cent.) and Claromontanus (D, sixth cent.), the Codices Augiensis (F, ninth cent.) and Boernerianus (G, ninth cent.), and a number of
minuscels (among them 1739). I would add the important fmd at Tura (Papyrus Cair.
88748) of Origen's commentary on Romans, written at the beginning of the seventh
century, but an indirect witness to Origen's text in the third century, which is strangely
missing in Nestle-Aland27
263
Rom 3:21-26; my translation.
264
Kraus, Der Tod Jesu als Heiligtumsweihe. Now also Bailey, "Jesus as the Mercy
Seat" (non vidi).
i.Aa<ntlpwv. The first perceives it as a terminus technicus referring to the

kapporet from the holy of holies. 265 The second interprets it more generally
as "atoning sacrifice" (Lohse). 266 I will therefore start with a discussion of
the meaoing of il.aatijptov, arguing strongly for the first group of scholars,
those who understand it as kapporet. 261
The word i.A.a1Jti)ptov is quite rare. Kraus lists five examples in pagan
texts and 40 in Jewish ones. The pagan texts include one passage each in
Dio Chrysostomus and Aelius Herodianus, two inscriptions, and one
papyrus.268 The two inscriptions and Dio use i.A.acr1:-ftpwv with the meaning
of a propitiating votive offering. The meaning in the papyrus and in Herodianus is unclear.269
Of the 40 "Jewish" instances, i.Aacr1:i)pwv appears 21 times in the Torah,
five times in Ezekiel43, once in Amos, six times in Philo, once in 4Maccabees, twice in Symmachus, once in Josephus and once in the Testament
of Solomon. In Jewish-Christiao literature (which I included under Jewish
literature), it appears twice, once in Hebrews and once in Romans.
All21 instaoces in the Torah are traoslations of kapporet:ofthese, seven
appear in Leviticus 16; aod all six instaoces in Philo plus the one in the
Testament of Solomon aod the one in the Epistle to the Hebrews clearly refer to the kapporet, totaling 29. 270 In three further instances i.Aacr1:-ftptov refers most probably to the kapporet: In two of them, Symmachus traoslates
n1~J1 ("you will make watertight") not as a verb but as a noun in
apposition to "the ark of Noah," aod therefore makes Noah's ark into a
k:npporet (Genesis 6:15.16). Amos 9:1 traoslates llM' with ll.aatijptov, referring to some place in the temple. Both authors probably read (or waoted
to read) n11~J or n1~J in their Vorlage. 271
The instances in Jewish texts where i.A.acr1:i)pwv clearly does not refer to
kapporet are few; altogether seven times in the works of three authors:
See the list of exegetes in Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, p. 232, notes 66 and 67.
For the references, see Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, p. 234.
The most recent and most meticulous analysis of all occurrences of il.aa-rf!ptov was
undertaken by Wolfgang Kraus: Der Tod Jesu als Heiligtumsweihe, pp. 21-32; now also
Bailey, "Jesus as the Mercy Seaf' (non vidi). Earlier investigations were undertaken by
many scholars, who are discussed in his book.
268 Dio Chrysostomus, Orationes 11:121; Aelius Herodianus, De prosodia catholica
(ed. Lentz, vol. 3:1, p. 365); inscriptions of Cos 81 and 347 (ed. Paton/Hicks); papyrus
Fayum 337 (ed. Grenfell/Hunt, p. 313).
269 See Kraus, Der Tod Jesu als Heiligtumsweihe, pp. 27-28.
270 Philo, De cherubim 25; De vita Mosis 2:95.91; De juga et inventione 100.101; Quis
rerum divinarum heres sit 166; Testament of Solomon 21:2. Cf. Kraus, Der Tod Jesu als
Heiligtumsweihe, pp. 26--27.
271 See the various commentators mentioned in Kraus, Der Tod Jesu als Heiligtumsweihe, p. 24, note 14.
265
1 66
267
Ezekiel 4 3 uses iAaa1:1)p10v five times to translate :l1TY. The Greek reader
of Ezekiel understood this as some place in the sanctuary connected to
atonement, most probably the base of the altar upon which the blood was
applied. 272 Josephus reports the erection by Herod of an "atoning memorial" to placate the wrath of God. 273 This pagan use most probably rests
on the fact that Josephus' addressees are mainly pagan. 4Maccabees 17:22
in its present form uses iJ..acrti}pwv in a general sense, i.e. "their propitiatory death" or "the propitiation of their death" (even if originally Yom
Kippur might be envisaged as background).
I find it hard to imagine that Greek-speaking Christian Jews, who were
supposedly faroiliar with the Septuagint, did not inunediately make an
association with the most frequent usage in the Septuagint, especially considering the mention of blood and sins in the context. There is no doubt
though that ancient readers of the Bible were more faroiliar with the Torah
than with Ezekiel43 (a chapter not quoted in the New Testament). This
point is even more valid for the variant reading of the ambiguous passage
in Amos 9. 274 The other two passages (4Maccabees and Josephus) cannot
change the fact that Pan! (and the tradition adopted by him) is most probably referring to the use of i.).;aatftpwv in the best-known text, i.e. askapporet in the Torah, and therefore to the ritual of Yom Kippur 275 To give a
parallel: If someone mentions Joshua, few people would immediately make
an association with the high priest in Zechariah rather than with the
people's leader in the sixth book of the Bible. Most of them wonld need
further hints to Zechariah to make an association with the less prominent
figure. If Paul wanted to refer to the general meaning of "gift to propitiate
the anger of a God" to an audience acquainted with the Septuagint he
would have used civ&9qt.a, &opov or cinc1:alcx; instead the ambivalent
technical term. 276
Having reached this conclusion regarding the cultic meaning of i.Aacr'!tipwv, I can proceed to counter the other arguments, raised mainly by Eduard Lohse, against seeing Yom Kippur as background to Romans 3:24-26.
Most of the arguroents have already been addressed in Peter Stuhlmacher's
classic article.277 First, Lohse considers the concept that the blood of Jesus
is sprinkled on Jesus himself (as kapporet) an impossible interpretation.
Ezek43:13 [3*].14.17.
Antiquitatesjudaicae 16:182.
274
Regardless of whether the translators read 11n~:l or Inl!l:l, for a Greek reader of
Amos 9 this was simply a reference to the iA.ao:'t~ptov near the altar, Le. the m1~:>.
215
Cf. the conclusion in Kraus, Der Tod Jesu als Heiligtumsweihe, pp. 31-32.
276
Contra Bailey, "Greek Heroes Who Happen to Be Jewish."
m Stuhlmacher, "Zur neueren Exegese von Rom 3,24-26." On Stuhlmacber's theses
regarding other relevant New Testament passages, see the other papers in his collection.
201
However, typology is often limited in its coherence; e.g., in the Epistle to

the Hebrews, the high priest enters the holy of holies carrying his own
blood. Lohse's second argument is that the kapporet was concealed,
whereas Romans exposes Jesus as iAaa1:ftp1ov. This, however, may well be
a polemical pun, and the arguroent becomes stronger for those who presume that the group behind Romans 3 :24/25-26* fostered an anti-temple
abolition theology. Third, Lohse points out that i.Aacr1:1)pwv is used without
the article; but this is for grammatical reasons, since it stands as predicativum.
Finally, let us for the sake of arguroent accept for a moment Lohse's
suggestion that Romans 3:24/25-26* depends on a concept in 4Maccabees 17 according to which the death of martyrs is a vicarious atoning
death. Kraus' suggestion that Leviticus 16 and 4Maccabees are not mutually exclusive alternatives is very tempting. 278 As I argued earlier,
4Maccabees 17:20-22 itself may be based on a reinterpretation of Yom
Kippur?" Yet a direct dependence of the pre-Pauline tradition or of Paul
on 4Maccabees is excluded by the current dating of 4Maccabees to the end
of the first century CE - or possibly even later - according to the most
recent suggestions by Jan Will em van Henten.280
On the other hand, a cultic interpretation of Romaos 3:25-26 may be
supported by further arguments. Possibly, the context of Romans 3 contains two further allusions to Yom Kippur. In one, God will judge the
secret thoughts of all (Romans 2: 16). This might be based on the mention
of God's omniscience and of the hidden things in the Yom Kippur prayers
from Qumran. 281 In the other, nl.an~ in Romans 3:21-26 has a function
similar to repentance in the rabbinic and Philonic passages on Yom Kippur: the performance of vicariously atoning work by someone (the high
priest in the temple/Jesus), which becomes effective for everyone who
identifies himself with this work by 1tian<;/repentance (cf. also Romans 2:4-5).
In sum, the allusion to the il.aatJiptov in the holy of holies according to
the usage in the Greek Torah must have been clear not only to Paul but to
everybody faroiliar with the Greek Torah. Since Pan! does not distinguish
different levels of biblical arguroentation for Gentile and Jewish reader-
273
278
Kraus, "Der Jom Kippur, der Tod Jesu und die 'Biblische Theologie'," pp. 157-
158.
279

H.-I. Klauck, "Hellenistische Rhetorik im Diasporajudentwn. Das Exordiwn des
vierten Makkabiierbuchs (4Makk 1,1-12)," New Testament Studies 35 (1989) 451-465,
here p. 452; for van Henten, see above, note 191 on p. 116.
:z&l See above, pp. 38-42.
280
ships, it can be assumed that educated Gentiles, who were associated in
some way with synagogues, also understood Paul's allusion282 to one of
the most central texts of the Torah. 283
3.2 Interpretation of Romans 3:25-26
The most challenging exegesis of this passage in recent research is that

proposed by Wolfgang Kraus 284 He suggests understanding Romans 3 :2526 and Hebrews not as atonement but exclusively as inauguration of a
sanctuary. He bases his thesis on the rabbinic view that it is the blood ritual which cleanses and reinaugurates the temple, while it is the laying of
hands on the scapegoat and on the bull that has the atoning function. He
concludes that since Romans 3:25 (and likewise Hebrews) mentions only
blood, Paul (and Hebrews) refers only to the sanctifYing aspect of the
ritual.
I have three objections to Kraus' interpretation.285 First, Kraus cannot
prove that the concept of two separate functions of the rituals at Yom Kippur, which appears for the first time in the Mishnah, was valid in the time
of the Second Temple. Even if this were the case, it is probably only one of
many interpretations. Did the Mishnah preserve the Sadducean or the Pharisean view on this detail? It is perhaps more pertinent to distinguish
between the ritual and its rationale and therefore to perceive the ritual
interpretations in the Mishnah as post-temple understandings. If this
assumption holds true then the interpretations of the Mishnah contribute no
more to the historical reconstruction of the way the temple ritual was
interpreted during the Second Temple than do the interpretations of
modem exegetes.
Moreover, Kraus presents the evidence of Second Temple sources in a
reductive way. In contrast, Josephus does not support the mishnaic interpretation of the ritual, whereas his description of the ritual procedure is
similar to that in the Mishnah.286 Jubilees 34:12-19 does not distinguish
between the two goats and their functions. 287 Kraus unjustifiably down-
282
This is equally true for the reception of the allusion in the tradition before Paul.
See e.g. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, p. 233. This argument would be even
stronger if we knew that already in frrst~century Rome people used Sidrei Avodah, since
in that case the description of the high priest's ritual would be even more deeply rooted
in their thought.
284
Kraus, Der Tod Jesu als Heiligtumsweihe.
285
Additional critique in KnOppler, SUhne im Neuen Testament, pp. 22-24.
286
Kraus, Der Tod Jesu a/s Heiligtumsweihe, pp. 72-73.
287
As Kraus himself observes- Der Tod Jesu a/s Hei/igtumsweihe, pp. 71-72, note I.
283
203
plays the evidence of II QTemple Scroll xxv-xxvii, which contradicts his

interpretation. 288
Third, while there is purification terminology in Hebrews, it is missing
in Romans 3, which speaks about sins. It is hard therefore to fit the New
Testament texts into the rabbinic scheme.289
The inauguration of the sanctuary and the atonement are- not mutually
exclusive. Jesus is inaugurated as tJ..ao-cftpwv and he atones as such. He
functions as an alternative to the central instrument of atonement in the
biblical ritual of the Day of Atonement. Unlike the cover of the ark of the
First Temple, which was hidden in the holy of holies, this iA.aa-tftptov is
public (Kpo-i9e1:o). The focus on the i1acrcftpwv demonstrates that, as in the
Epistle to the Hebrews, Romans proposes a sacrificial conception of atonement referring to the biblical foundation and not to the Second Temple,
which had no i.A.a.<nftpwv. Yet cultic concepts are much less central to Paul
than to Hebrews.
The formula describes an eschatological action of God and distinguishes
between the current era of righteousness, in which Jesus has been inaugurated by God as \:\.acr<~pwv (cf. Romans 5:6-11), and the previous time of
God's forbearance, in which sins were passed over. Avoxft refers back to
the time of God's forbearance, in which all sins were set aside in order to
enable all to repent before the final judgment (Romans 2:4--5) and avoid
God's imminent wrath (Romans I :18). Although God's wrath is mentioned
in the previous chapter the act does not entail an aspect of propitiation
because God himself is the actor and could not possibly propitiate himself.
Why did Paul and his Vorlage employ the picture of Yom Kippur?
Jesus' death ("in his blood") fulfills the same function as the blood
sprinkling rite on Yom Kippur in the temple. Paul is the first to put
forward such an interpretation of the iA.ao:Tftpwv. Does the idea of an inauguration of Jesus as iA.aaTitptov encompass a simultaneous abolition of
the temple and its priestly cult in the group behind this tradition? Most interpreters seem to take this for granted, btit it is not necessarily the case.
Romans 3:25-26 is at the very least ambiguous. Paul enumerates the temple service(~ :\.a<peia) positively among the God-given gifts (Romans 9:4),
and earlier he states three times that Jesus' inauguration as i1ao1:ftptov
serves to demonstrate the righteousness of God (3:21.25.26). God's righteousness in the eschaton lies in proposing a just way of salvation for both
288 Klaus states "Die in Lev 16 und der jiidischen Traditionsliteratur festzustellende
Unterscheidung von HeiJigtumssiihne und Person[en]sUhne scheint hier keine Rolle zu
spielen": Kraus, Der TodJesu ais Hei/igtumsweihe, pp. 75-78, here p. 76.
289 See also the reviews to Kraus, e.g. by D.P. Bailey, in Journal ofTheo/ogica/ Studies
45 (1994) 247-252; and Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle, p. 221, note 77.
Jews and Gentiles, although this way cannot be the law, which concerns
only Jews. Yet 1tionc; is the same for both. Jews and Gentiles continue living according to their statutes, i.e. Christian Jews continue observing Yom
Kippur. In Jesus' death God Instituted an additional eschatological Yom
Kippur, the spiritual blood rite of which equally affects those Jews and
Gentiles who manifest nio<t<;. If Paul had wanted to express that this
supplement to the temple cult was also a substitution for it, he could have
formulated his sentence differently, underscoring the substitutive effect. 290
In the end, abolition is what is going to happen and the interpretation of
Jesus as eschatological iA.ao't'ftpwv was one of the preparatory steps on this
path, similar to an Alexandrian Jewish allegory. But I doubt that Paul
envisaged this, given his short-term eschatological perspective.
r
!
I
f
I'
f
I
205
ences among the various pre-Pauline Hellenistic Christian Jewish groups.

We know about Stephen's circle, the group behind Hebrews, and communities in Antioch. Damascus, Alexandria and Rome. The group behind the
Epistle to the Hebrews is unlikely to have been its author, since Hebrews
leaves precisely the key word ll.a.m\ptov without Christological interpretation. Stuhlmacher's suggestion of Romans 3:25 having the same origin as
Mark 10:45 and Stephen was refuted by Kraus. 294 Paul, however, could
have heard an Alexandrian tradition from Apollos or he could even have
repeated a reworked Roman tradition that he heard from Aqnila and Prisca
during his time in Antioch or Damascus and adopted it. Unfortunately, the
brevity of the passage precludes taking a more definite position on this
important question.
3.3 Paul's Predecessor: The Pre-Pauline Formula Romans 3:24/25-26a*

The majority of scholars assume that Romans 3:24/25-26a is based on a
pre-Pauline formula. 291 They base their assumption on the occurrence of a
considerable number of hapaxlegomena and some un- or pre-Pauline concepts.292 The exact limits and wording of this formula are not agreed upon.
While I accept the assumption that Paul is using traditional material, I find
that in the modern reconstructions neither the wording of the passage nor
its extent are sound enough to form the basis for any further conclusions.293
Paul's Vorlage belongs to a provenance of Greek-speaking Christian
Jews, since it is very difficult to translate the Greek back to Hebrew I
Aramaic. But which Hellenistic Christian Jews? There are crucial differ290 Contra K.n6ppler, Siihne im Neuen Testament, p. 321, who also speaks of Jesus'
death as an eschatological Yom Kippur (p. 320); Merk1ein, "Der Tod Jesu als stellvertretender Siihnetod," p. 190; U. Wilckens, Der Brief an die ROmer (Evangelisch-Katholischer Kommentar 6:1-3; Neukirchen-Vluyn and ZUrich, 1978, 1980, 1982), vol. 1,
p. 239.
291 But see e.g. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, p. 220, who opts for a Pauline origin.
292
See the commentaries for the details.
293 An example of a maximalist reconstruction is Fitzmyer, who follows Bultmann and
Kasemann by beginning with verse 24. To the arguments mentioned above, Kasemann
adds a "rupture" in the strange phrase beginning with a participle.
The following is my retranslation of J.A. Fitzmyer's reconstruction in, Romans. A
New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (The Anchor Bible 33; New York.
1992), p. 342: "being justified freely through redemption (which comes) in Christ Jesus,
whom God presented as means of expiating sin through his blood, as a manifestation of
his uprightness for the pardon of past sins committed in the time of his forbearance." His
Greek reconstruction of the pre~ Pauline formula reads: OtKato~u:vot OropsO:v OtO: ils UxoAuJXOOs~ f'Js E.v Xptatt'91TJooil Ov npoi9&to 0 9s0t; iAaotiunov E.v -rep airtoU ui11an sit; iv&:t~lV
tf'Jt; OtiCUtOO'iJVTJt; aittoil Oui -r~v xh.psmv tci>v n:poyeyov6-rrov iLJJ.UP'fl]J11irov Sv til tivoxil tOii Ssoii.
4. Christ as Atonement (L\.acr!lo~): lJohn

The first Epistle of John from around 95 CE295 twice uses the term ll.ao~6<;
(!John 2:2; 4:10) as an epithet for Christ:
1:7 But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses (Ku9api~st) us from all sin. 8 If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we
confess (O!!oAort'OJ.Lev) our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive (O.qrl}) us our
sins and cleanse (JCa.&api.OlJ) us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have
not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 2:1 My little children, I
am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone sins, we
have an advocate (xa.pO.ICA.TJov) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and he
is the atonement (ilua!!Ot;) for (1tSpi) our sins, and not for ours only but also for the
sins of the whole world.
In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to
be the atonement (0.1timstlev 10v uiOv uirtoil il.aaJlOv) for (xepi) our sins.
4:to
Many scholars view this passage of Uohn against the background of the
Day of Atonement 296 Yom Kippur as background is supported by the
294
Cf. Kraus, Der Tod Jesu als Heiligtumsweihe, pp. 194-234, especially pp. 194-200.
Schnelie, Einleitung in das Neue Testament, p. 522.
296
Most of all, R. Brown. The Epistles of John (Anchor Bible 30; Garden City [NY]
1982), p. 217. J. Roloff, "Hilasmos," Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament 2
(1990) 186, states: "In the background stands the idea, though it is weakened in
comparison to Rom 3:25, of Good Friday as the great eschatological Day of Atonement.'
R. Bultmann, The Johannine Epistles (Hermeneia; Philadelphia, 2 1978), p. 23, also connects the tradition to Rom 3:25 but attributes it to the ecclesiastical redactor. J. Lieu, The
Theology of the Johannine Epistles (New Testament Theology; Cambridge [UK], 1991),
p. 64. prefers to see here a non~sacrificial understanding.
295
mention of purification and confession in 1:9 and by l.Aaa!l6~. which Philo

sometimes uses to refer to Yom Kippur. 297
What part of the Yom Kippur ritual is alluded to? The mention of blood
in I :7 leads some scholars to see a sacrificial background behind the concept of atonement. However, the immediate context of !John 2:2 calling
Jesus a napO:KAT)t~ is closer to the notion of an interceding high priest.
Raymond Brown connects this concept to the Babylonian Jewish tradition,
according to which the high priest is an advocate before God against accusations by Satan. 298 Philo, too, portrays the high priest in his interceding
role. 299 But as Georg Strecker points out, the second interpretation does not
invalidate the first. 300
A further connection to Yom Kippur may be perceived in !John 4:10 in
the idea of an atoning sending that is reminiscent of the scapegoat typology of Galatians 3:10-14 and 4:4-6; however, !John uses not the peculiar
~anoot8AA.ro but &.nocrt8AA.ro. 301
The Wliversal aspect of the atonement is new in comparison to all passages discussed hitherto (e.g. Barnabas, Matthew, Hebrews and Romans
3:25). 302 !John emphasizes the ability of Jesus to intercede for the
(confessed) sins of baptized Christians and clearly reflects a later stage in
the development of early Christian thought than the author of Hebrews,
who does not admit a second opportunity to repent. Hebrews leaves open
the content of the high priest's heavenly intercession. Uohn associates the
heavenly intercession explicitly with atonement. Assuming the writer of
IJohn was familiar with the concept of the once-and-for-all atonement of
the heavenly high priest, he adjusted it to his readers, who were in need of
an explanation of what happens to post-baptismal sins.
5. Yom Kippur as Background to Early Christological Hymns?

Two scholars, Ernst Lohmeyer and James Charlesworth, have suggested
understanding the Christo logical hymns of Colossians I: 13-20 and Philippians 2:6-11 against the background of Yom Kippur. The scapegoat as
m De congressu eruditionis gratia 89.107; Quis rerum divinarum heres sit 179; De
posteritate Caini 48.
298 b Yom a 20a, cf. Brown, The Epistles of John, p. 217; see above, p. 121.
299 De vita Mosis 2:26.
wo Strecker, The Johannine Letters. A Commentary on 1, 2, and 3 John (Hermeneia;
Philadelphia, 1996), p. 39.
31 On the typology in Galatians, see the discussion above, pp. 173-176.
302 However, it is not a Christian invention, since it already appears in Philo, Legatio
ad Gaium 306.
207
possible background to a third hymn, !Peter 2:22-24, was discussed

earlier. 303
5. I Colossians I: I 2-20
Ernst Lohmeyer suggested that Yom Kippur lies behind a Christological

hymn he located in Colossians 1:13-20304 Today, most scholars consider
1: 15 as the inception of the hymn and I :12-14 as an introductory phrase
composed by the author of Colossians. 305 Many different versions as to
how to structure the hymn compete with one another. 306 I will quote the
passage, including the frame I :12(-14) and 1:21-23:
12He [who lives a life worthy of the Lord] thanks the Father, who has qualified
you to take part in the lot of the saints, (which is) in the light.
u He [God] has rescued (tppUuata) us from the power of darkness
and transferred (Jtf:"ti<J'tTIGGV) us into the kingdom @aaW:ia.v) of his beloved Son,
14 in whom we have the redemption (U.noA.irt:promv),
the forgiveness (<icpm.v) of the sins.
s He [Christ] is the image (hc<i>v) of the invisible God,
the firstborn (npro-c(rtoKo~) of all creation (K-cim:coo;);
16 for in (tv) him all things were created
in heaven and on earth,
See p. 178, above.

E. Lohmeyer, Der Brief an die Kolosser (Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar fiber das
Neue Testament; GOttingen, 1961, flrst edition 1930), pp. 41-68, especially 43-47 and
66-68. For recent literature on Col 1:13-20, see C. Stettler, Der Kolosserhymnus.
Untersuchungen zu Form, traditionsgeschichtlichem Hintergrund und Aussage von
Ko/1,15-20 (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, second series
131; TUbingen, 2000); 0. Hofius, '"Erstgeborener vor aller SchOpfung'- 'Erstgeborener
aus den Toten.' Erwagungen zu Struktur und Aussage des Christushynmus Koll,l5-20,"
in: idem, Paulusstudien II (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
143; TUbingen, 2002; pp. 215-233).
305 Stettler, Der Kolosserhymnus, pp. 76-94; M. Barth and H. Blanke, Colossians. A
New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Anchor Bible 34B; New York,
1994), pp. 193-217; P.T. O'Brien, Colossians, Philemon (Word Biblical Commentary
44; Waco [Tex.], 1984), pp. 25 and 31-63, esp. pp. 32-37, with much additional
literature; J.-N. Aletti, Colossiens 1,I5-20. Genre et exigse du texte. Fonction de Ia
thematique sapientielle (Analecta Biblica 91; Rome, 1981), pp. 1-45; E. Schweizer, Der
Brief an die Kolosser (Evange1isch-Katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament;
Neukirchen-Vluyn and ZUrich, 1976), pp. 44-50.
306
O'Brien, Colossians, pp. 33-37, gives an overview of various attempts to define
stanzas; the beginning of the hymn v. 13, 14, or 15 is debated. Various parts of the hymn
have been regarded as additions by the writer of Colossians. For discussion of both
questions, see Hoflus, ,.. Erstgeborener vor aller SchOpfung'," pp. 217-223, who regards
"the church" in 1:18 and "through the blood of his cross" in 1:20 as additions; and
Stettler, Der Kolosserhymnus, pp. 94-100, who convincingly argues against necessarily
seeing any parts of the passage as additions.
303
304
things visible and invisible,
whether thrones (epOvot) or dominions ()(llJJtb1:1ftt:c;)
whether rulers (O.PXai) or powers (e!;ouaiat)all things have been created through (Sui) him and for (ei<;) him.
11 He himself is before all things,
and in him all things hold together (mwE<rtTJKtv).
ts He himself is the head ofthe body, the church;
he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have first place in everything.
!9 For in him all the fullness (7tdv tO AAT)j)COJ.I) was pleased to dwell (utotKi'Jaat),
20 and to reconcile (O.xoKata:HO.l;at) through him all things to itself
by having made peace (ipqv01t0tt)ocu;) through the blood of his cross,
whether with the things on earth or with those in heaven.
And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 12 he
has now reconciled (0.7t01Ctl]U.riyfl't"e) in his fleshly body through death, so as to
present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him- 23 provided that
you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from
the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to
every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of the gospel.
21
Lohmeyer's starting point is his translation of UxoKataAAfrauro with "versohnete" (to reconcile), which in German is immediately associated with
"Versohnungstag," the Day of Atonement. He understands (ano)KaaUaouro as a synonym for (i:S)iAciuK:OJ.ltlL. As he considers Colossians a Pauline
letter, Colossians has to be interpreted against the background of the passages containing either of these words and against the background of the
Day of Atonement307 For example, the sacrificial goat308 of Yom Kippur
lies behind the idea of general atonement by the blood of Jesus. Most
interesting certainly is Lohmeyer's observation that the combination of
creation and atonement reflects the central theme of the festival cycle of
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Moreover, in his opinion, the hymn
combines these themes: indwelling of God, kingdom, condemnation of the
forces of evil, universal forgiveness and redemption -themes connected to
the days spanning Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur in rabbinic and liturgical
texts. 309
Lohmeyer's thesis was modified and expanded by Stanislas Lyonnet,
who investigated the relationship of this hymn to the special additions in
New Year Amidah, Malkhuyyot, Zikhronot and Shofarot, 310 which in

became closely linked with the Yom Kippur liturgy.m Lyonnet,
;c voiDLte<l out that prior to Colossians 1:20 the verb elp~vonou\ro appears only
in a Philonic passage on Rosh Hashanah and in Proverbs. 312
U I.obm'Y'"'s thesis did not win wide approval, and Lyonnet is not even
313
,: uoted in many recent commentaries and studies on Colossians.
Eduard
0
>s.ch1Nei.zer argued against Lohmeyer that the Yom Kippur motifs appear
in the frame of the hymn (1 :13-14), not in the text of what came to be
in scholarship as the hymo itself (1:15-20) 314 Christian Stettler's
recent, extensive study argues that the textual basis for the conassociation of creation, atonement and recreation with New Year
Yom Kippur, and the relationship of both festivals in Second Temple
is too slight to serve as evidence. 315 According to him, texts about
Hashanah predating the destruction of the temple do not speak about
.~;~~~:1~:~::~ in the sense of forgiveness
of sins, and texts about Yom
>
hardly at all about creation316 Moreover, the two festivals should
regarded as a unit since they are separated by I 0 days.
~~~:w:::t~~ very few data are available on the festival of Rosh
in the time of the Second Temple. 317 Philo emphasizes the
n1!llW ,nun:n ,nPJ77.l ("kingdoms," "commemorations," "trumpets"). On the early

of these additions to the Amidah, see the literature given above, p. 49, note 179.
S. Lyonnet, "L'hymne christologique de l'epitre aux Colossiens et Ia Fete juive du
nouvel an," Recherches de Science Religieuse 48 (1960) 93-100.
312 Philo, De specia/ibus legibus 2:188-192; the other passage is Prov 10:10; cf. also
Matt 5:9; the substantive appears also in Xenophon, He/lenica 6:3:4. See Lyonnet,
"'L'hymne cbristologique de l'epitre aux Colossiens," pp. 96--97.
313 Exceptions are Leonhardt, Jewish Worship in Philo of Alexandria, p. 42; Aletti,
Colossiens 1, I 5-20, p. 91.
Schweizer, Der Brief an die Kolosser, p. 55.
315
See Stettler, Der Ko/osserhymnus, pp. 6--10 on Lohmeyer, pp. 266-299 on
;~~~!:~~~ und Frieden," and pp. 32Q-323 on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as
~:. He concludes: "Die Textbasis ist ... zu schmal, so dass wir kaum davon
ktinnen, dass der SchOpfer des Hymnus besagten Festzyklus [from Rosh
''Jiasltam!h to Yom Kippur] bewusst im Auge gehabt hiitte, oder auch nur, dass die in
Christuspsalm verarbeiteten Traditionen von Schtipfung, Slihne und Neti:~~::::: schon in jenem jiidischen Festzyklus in einem inneren Zusammenhang
Mtten." (pp. 322-323).
Stettler, Der Kolosserhymnus, refers to Sir 50:22 as the only text linking Yom
creation.
lQS Rule of the Community x:6; llQTemple Scroll xxv:l-10. Some of the
fragments may belong to Rosh Hashanah. Philo mentions the festival in
sp<ciGIibus legibus, 2:188-192. See Leonhardt, Jewish Worship in Philo of A/exPseudo-Philo, Liber Antiquitatum Bib/icarum 13:6. In general, see
307
Lohmeyer, Der Brief an die Kolosser, P- 66.

Lohmeyer refers to the sacrificial lamb! An obvious lapse of a Christian theologian
used to Passover terminology and Isa 53. Did something similar happen to the author of
the Gospel of John?
309
Lohmeyer, Der Brief an die Ko/osser, p. 43-46.
308
209
trumpets and links the festival with the universal significance and blessing
of the lawgiving at Sinai and God as peacemaker between the powers of
the world and nature. The Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum states that on
New Year "I will declare the number of those who are to die and who are
bom."318 Although it does not speak explicitly about judgment it clearly
goes beyond creation, taking up the well-known theme of God deciding on
New Year who is to live and who to die." 9 This calls to mind two Festival
Prayers from Qumran that were probably used on Yom Kippur in and
beyond the Qururan community and refer to creation and the indwelling of
God in the community. 320 Moreover, the language of the "lot of the saints
in the light" (I :12) is strongly reminiscent of Qururan texts, and the victory
over the powers of darkness and evil is a strong theme expressed in
!Enoch 10, l!QMelchizedek and Hebrews on Yom Kippur. 321 None of
these elements are univocal markers; they appear also in texts with no
connection to Yom Kippur. Deutero-Isaiah abounds in references combining creation and atonement. And Acts 26:18 mentions the redemption
of the saints from the powers of darkness. However, Colossians 1:12-23, in
particular 1:15-20, combines many elements associated with Yom Kippur.
Finally, as Stettler himself remarks, the fact that the author of Colossians
framed the hymn by taking up the words "redemption" ( ~nol.utproat v) and
"forgiveness" (iicpeat v) of sins in 1:14 and "reconcile" (CmoKatallcioaro) in
1:21 in the immediate context, possibly also reveals the hymn's Sitz im
Leben in this context of "expiation and reconciliation."322 The last word
might well not have been spoken on this passage.
P. Lenhardt, '<Neujahrsfest. III. Judentum," Theologische Realenzyklopiidie 24 (1994)

322-324.
31
' Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum 13:6, trans!. D.J. Harrington, "Pseudo-Philo," in:
I. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol. 2. (New York, 1985;
pp. 297-377), here p 321. See also Jacobson, A Commentary on Pseudo-Philo's Liber
Antiquitatum Biblicarum, vol. I, pp. 512-515.
319
See bRH 16b; cf.tRH 1:13;yRH 1:3, 57a.
120
1Q34 3 ii // 4Q509 97+98 i includes the motif of creation, and 4Q508 2 1-6
explicitly mentions God's indwelling in the community. See above pp. 42-43.
321
See pp. 85-92 and 185-187, above.
322 Stettler, Der Kolosserhymnus, pp. 102-103. He sees baptism or the Eucharist as the
most likely candidates. This is obviously a post-Jewish perspective.
211
5.2 Philippians 2:6-11

James Charlesworth has suggested Yom Kippur as a background to
Philippians 2:6--11: 323
[Christ Jesus]
6 being in the form of God,
did not regard as robbery (ir.pmxr110v),
to be equal with God 324
1 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human fonn,
she humbled himself(ttatt&iveooV iamOv)
and became obedient to the point of death [even death on a cross. F25
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess (~o11oAoyi)auat):
the Lord Jesus Christ
to the glory of God the Father.
323 J.H. Charlesworth, A Prolegomenon to a New Study of the Jewish Background of

the Hymns and Prayers in the New Testament," Journal ofJewish Studies 33 (1982) 265285, here p. 279, note 46. The literature on this passage is vast. Recent treatments include
0. Hofius, Der Christushymnus Philipper 2,6-1 I (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen
zum Neuen Testament 17; Tfibingen, 2 1991); G.D. Fee, Paul's Letter to the Philippians
(New International Commentary to the New Testament; Grand Rapids [Mich.], 1995),
pp. 24-38 and 191-229; M. Boclanuehl, "'The Form of God' (Phil. 2:6) Variations on a
Theme of Jewish Mysticism," Journal of Theological Studies 48 (1997) 1-23; S. Vollenweider, Der 'Raub' der Gottgleichbeit: Ein Religionsgeschichtlicher Vorschlag zu
Phil2.6--(ll)," New Testament Studies 45 (1999) 413-433. That the hymnal character is
now hotly debated does not affect the discussion of its background. See in particular
R. Bruckner, 'Christushymnen' oder 'epideiktische' Passagen? Studien zum Stilwechsel
im Neuen Testament und seiner Umwelt (Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des
Alten und Neuen Testaments 176; Gottingen, 1997); and G. Kennel, Friihchristliche
Hymnen? Gattungskritische Studien zur Frage nach den Liedern der friihen Christenheit
(Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament 71; Neuk:irchenVluyn, 1995), especially, pp. 22-46 on the history of the research.
324 For various solutions to translating this difficult verse, see N.H. Young, "An
Aristophanic Contrast to Philippians 2:6-7," New Testament Studies 45 (1999) 153-155.
325 This line breaks the rhythm of three lines; if the song is pre-Pauline, the line may be
a Pauline addition: see Lohmeyer, Kyrios Jesus, p. 44.
Charlesworth did not expound the basis for his suggestion, but some motifs
mtght mdeed refer to Yom Kippur, in particular the pronunciation of the
divine name (2:9), the universal prostration (2: I 0) and the solemn
confession in the last line (2: II). The humbling (2:8) may be connected to
Leviticus 16:29-34. Although God's name was probably pronounced every
day m the temple wtth people prostrating, a universal prostration matches
the image of the Seder Avodah, where not only those present in the temple
fall on their knees. However, we do not know if a Seder Avodah was already part of some synagogue liturgies in the time of the Second Temple.
The background could be any solenm pronunciation of the divine name. A
connection of Philippians 2:6-1! to Yom Kippur's liturgy is possible but
speculative.
6. Historical Synthesis
We have now come to the point of having to put the findings of the various
investigations into their historical context. Before discussing what can be
learnt from these texts abdllt the various attitudes toward the ritual and
imaginaire of Yom Kippur (6.3), we need to examine who among the
Christian Jews in the first century were observing Yom Kippur (6.!) and
who not, and why they were not (6.2)? 326
It is commonly assumed that Yom Kippur - together with the other
Jewish festivals of autumn - ceased to be observed from the very
begtnning of Christianity, except by "abnormal" Jewish-Christians. 327 No
326
For additional thoughts on this topic, see now Daniel StOkl Ben Ezra, ,.. Christians'
Celebrating 'Jewish' Festivals of Autumn," in: P.J. Tomson- and D. Lambers-Petry (eds.),
The Image of the Judaeo-Christians in Ancient Jewish and Christian Literature. Papers
Delivered at the Colloquium of the lnstitutum ludaicum, Brussels 18-19 November, 2001
(Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 158; Tiibingen, 2003; pp. 5373) [in print].
327
Mostly, Yom Kippur is not even mentioned among early Christian- i.e. as being a
Christian Jewish observance: see e.g. T. Schramm, "Feste. IV. Urchristentum," Religion
in Geschichte und Gegemvart' 3 (2000) 91-93; H.-D. Wendland, "Feste und Feiern III.
Im Urchristentum," Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart; 2 (1958) 917-919. George
Buchanan, one of the few scholars to have addressed the festival calendars of Jewish
Christians, reveals a Gentile Christian perspective when he admits, with reluctance, the
possibility that they observed Yom Kippur: see G.W. Buchanan, "Worship, Feasts and
Ceremonies in the Early Jewish-Christian Church," New Testament Studies 26 (1980)
279-297: "The church fathers accused the Jewish~Christians of observing the feast days
of the Jews. This does not mean that all Jewish-Christians observed all the feasts of
popular Judaism or that they rejected all the feasts observed by Gentile-Christians. They
observed the Sabbath and also the Lord's Day. They celebrated Passover on the
213
an authority than Martin Hengel, the nestor of New Testament
s~~olarsbip, recently affirmed that the author of Luke-Acts considered
Yom Kippur to be obsolete: "Ich karm mi~ [nur] : schwer vorstellen, daB
ch dem Tag anf Golgatha fiir Lukas wte fiir dte Judenchristen am Jom
~ppur fiir Israel noch Suhne gewirkt wurde.'ms Two arguments are
usually raised to support this conclusion. First, theologically, the
typologizations of Yom Kippur in Hebrews and in Romans 3:25 _are
understood to entail the abolishment of Yom Kippur- the great htgh pnest
Jesus had already completed this task. Second, the New Testament does
not describe any individual or group observing Yom Kippur.
6.1 The Observance of Yom Kippur by First-Century Christians
Let us start with the second argument. I want to emphasize that all the data
about the ''what" and the "how" of worship in earliest Christianity are
essentially circumstantial and relatively scant. To claim from an argumentum e silentio, therefore, that a certain festival was no longer observed
is a weak argument. Pentecost, for example, seems to have played a
prominent role in laying the foundation of the Church, yet the evide':'ce for
actual celebration of this festival in the first and second centunes 1s very
scant. 329 How then can we be sure that one or more of the communities
represented by the New Testament writings or some second-century Jewish
Christian communities did not observe the central Jewish feasts and fasts?
It is true that neither Jesus nor his disciples are ever described as observing Yom Kippur; but neither are they depicted as transgressing its
commandments. Statements in the Gospels about fasting refer to weekly
fasts and to the ascetic lifestyle of overachievers like John the Baptist.
Regarding the temple cult we can infer from the so-called "cleansing" of
the temple that Jesus seems to have regarded the temple primarily as a
place of prayer. But passages such as Matthew 5:24 provide evidence that
fourteenth of Nisan, but they may also have celebrated the resurrection at Easter. They
may or may not have observed the Jewish Feast of Weeks instead of, or in addition to,
Pentecost. It is uncertain whether they observed New Year's Day, the Day of Atonement,
and the Feast of Tabernacles with popular Judaism in thefalf' (p. 297; emphasis added).
Unfortunately, even the laudable Theologische Realenzyklopiidie, which for the most part
has excellent entries on topics related to Judaism will not have a separate entry on Yom
Kippur when it is published.
323 M. Hengel, "Der Jude Paulus und sein Yolk. Zu einem neuen Acta-Kommentar"
Theologische Rundschau 66 (2001) 338-368, here p. 358, referring to Luke 22:19-20 and
Acts 8:32-33 and 20:28, discussing whether Luke assigns an atoning function to the death
of Jesus. Hengel also refers to a habilitation ofU. Mittmann-Richert (2002) (non vidz).
3~9 G. Rouwhorst, "The Origins and Evolution of Early Christian Pentecost," Studia
Patristica 35 (2001) 309-322.
215
Since much time had been lost and sailing was now dangerous, because even
the Fast had already gone by (Oui "tO Ki "ti)v -VT}(tn:l.av ii0TJ. xapeA:qA:ufli:vat), Paul
advised them, 10 saying, "Sirs, I can see that the voyage will be with danger and
much heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives."
Jesus regarded also the purification and sin offerings in the temple as part
of his conception of Judaism. In the introduction, I mentioned anthropological arguments that turn upside down the common presumption that
Christians immediately ceased observing Jewish festivals: the conservati~m of ritual in general and of collective ritual in particular. 330 Without
evidence to the contrary, the working assumption should be that most
Christian Jews, after hearing about Jesus, continued to observe the same
festivals as they had done before. Philo and Josephus boast that many Godfearers observed Yom Kippur. 331 Accordingly, there is no reason to assume
that either Jesus or his immediate followers did not observe the abstentions
of Yom Kippur or that they disregarded the temple ritual.
Unambiguous support for the thesis that at least one Christian community, that of Luke-Acts, observed Yom Kippur's fast, can be deduced from
the only New Testament passage explicitly mentioning Yom Kippur,
Acts 27:9: 332
27:9
333
Luke may have been a God-fearer writing to God-fearers.

When he
employed i} VllO""teiU as a chronological reference he apparently presumed
his readers would understand what he was talking about. 334 Commentators
are unanimous in interpreting ti v11a"tcia as referring to the fast of Yom
Kippur. The word VJla-rcia appears with complete neutrality in the context,
without polemical or pejorative accretions. In the same way, a modern Jew
would understand a friend saying in late summer that he will return "after
the holidays" as meaning at the end of Sukkot. We can therefore assume
that the attitude of Luke and his addressees to the fast of the Day of Atonement was to that of a revered and observed festival. Moreover, supporting
this opinion, Luke does not include interpretations of Jesus' death as
335
atonement and even eliminates them from his source, Mark. Accordingly, one of the theological reasons to abolish Yom Kippur did not exist for
Luke. Consequently, this reading of Acts 27:9 refutes the second argument
for the thesis that Christians immediately stopped observing Yom Kippurnamely, that the New Testament does not describe any individual or group
observing this festival.
Paul's Epistle to the Romans 14:5--Q provides further evidence for
"Christians" observing "Jewish" festivals:
330
See above, pp. 6-7.

Philo, De vita Mosis 2:20-23; Josephus, Contra Apionem 2:282. A famous Amoraic
Palestinian legend about Antoninus ~plies that many God-fearers wore inferior shoes
(nm~ 7ll31:l} on Yom Kippur: seeyMeg 3:2, 14a;ySanh 10:8, 29c.
332
Some commentators have noted that Luke uses the Jewish calendar albeit without
drawing conclusions regarding the observance of Yom Kippur by 'Luke and his
addressees: see J.A. Fitzmyer, The Acts of the Apostles. A New Translation with Introducti~n a?d Commentary (Anchor Bible Commentary 31A; New York, 1998), p. 775;
B. Wtthenngton, The Acts of the Apostles. A Socio-Rhethorical Commentary (Grand
Rapids (M_ich.], 1998), p. 762. See also D.J. Williams, Acts (A Good News Commentary;
S~n Franctsco, 1985), p. 432; W. Schmithals, Die Apostelgeschichte des Lukas (ZUrcher
Btbelkommentare, Neues Testament 3,2; ZUrich, 1982), p. 236; K. Lake and H.J.
Cadbury, The Beginnings of Christianity Part I. The Acts ofthe Apostles. Vol. IV English
Translation and Commentary (Grand Rapids [Mich.], 1965 = repr. 1932), p. 328; and,
way back, H.B. Hackett, A Commentary on the Original Text of the Acts of the Apostles
(Boston, 1867), p. 418.
However, some commentators question here whether Paul observ~d Yom Kippur: see
R.P.C. Hanson, The Acts in the Revised Standard Version. With Introduction and Commentary (The New Clarendon Bible; Oxford, 1967), p. 245; J.D.G. Dunn, The Acts of the
Apostles (Narrative Commentaries; Valley Forge [Penn.], 1996), p. 338; H. Conzelmann,
Ac~s of the Apostles (Hermeneia; Philadelphia, 1987), p. 216; and, much earlier, E. Jacquter, Les Actes des ApOtres (Etudes bibliques 18; Paris, 1926), p. 726. This possibility
that Paul observed Yom Kippur is categorically denied by C.K. Barrett, A Critical and
Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles (2 vols; International Critical
Commentary 44; Edinburgh, 1994, 1998).
Among more recent commentaries, see also R. Pesch, Die Apostelgeschichte
(Evangelisch Katholischer Komrnentar zum Neuen Testament 5; ZUrich, NeukirchenVluyn, 1986); F.F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts (New International Commentary on the
New Testament; Grand Rapids [Mich.], 1988); J. Jervell, Die Apostelgeschichte. Obersetzt und erkliirt (Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar Ober das Neue Testament 3; Gottin331
gen, 1998); W. Eckey, Die Apostelgeschichte. Der Weg des Evangeliums von Jerusalem
nach Rom (Neukirchen-Vluyn, 2000).
333 See J. Tyson, Images of Judaism in Luke-Acts (Columbia, 1992), pp. 19--41; and
idem, "Jews and Judaism in Luke-Acts: Reading as a Godfearer," New Testament Studies
41 (1995) 19-38.
.
.
.
334 Against the argument that Luke may have copied a source without attentton (m thts
case the "we-source"), I would point to other verses where Luke-Acts betrays a close
acquaintance with Jewish tradition: e.g. Acts 1:12 (a Sabbath day's journey); and _18:18;
21:24 (Nazirite vow); and see 6:1 var. teet. (the second-first(?] Sabbath). It ts tlluminating to compare commentators on the Luke-Acts use of Passover (Acts 12:4; 20:6;
22:1; cf. 18:21 var. lect.), Pentecost (Acts 20:16) or the Sabbath (Luke 4:31-32; 6:6;
13:10; 23:56; Acts 13:14.42.44; 15:13; 17:2; 18:4; 20:7) as measures of time and the
question as to the observance of each of these festivals by Luke or Paul.
335 What might have been Luke's opinion regarding the high-priestly ritual? Luke
connects the proto-Christian community very closely with the Jerusalem temple. They
visit the temple daily. Even Paul demonstrates his respect for the temple by bringing
offerings. Luke claims that a group of priests joined the Jesus movement. But the temp~e
was no longer standing at the time Luke was writing the Gospel and Acts, and hts
positive attitude to the temple is therefore rather nostalgic.
I'
217
14:5 Some judge one day to be better than another, whi1e others judge all days to be
alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6a Those who observe the day-,
'
observe it in honor of the Lord. 336
days or seasons as such; it is the wrong motive involved when the

'i>h<ervru1ce of the days is bound up with the recognition of the elemental
Accordingly, whoever wants either to observe or not observe festivals is.

free to do so, as long as he/she is consistent and is doing so on behalf of
God (and not e.g. for social or economic reasons). There is no reason to
assume that for some members of the community Yom Kippur was not one
of these "days." Paul apparently assumed that part of the Roman community observed Jewish festivals, and he gave it the freedom to do so. How
ever, this passage reveals a conception that is an important step away from
regarding the observance of festivals as obligatory. 337
The author of Colossians rails against people, perhaps (Christian) Jewc
ish missionaries, 338 who demand from Christian Gentiles the observan~e
such Jewish rites as kashrut, the Sabbath and the New Moon.
Tidwell suggests that Didache 14:1 attests to an observance of

. 341
Kippur by thi s commumty.
Therefore nobody shaH judge (Kptvktro) you with regard to food and drink or
concerning a festival, New Moon, or Sabbaths. 11 These are a shadow (o-tcui)
what was to come, the body (o<OjJo.) of Christ. 1s Nobody shall disqualify you~
delighting in self-abasement and worship of the angels, which he has seen uporl.
entering, puffed up with~ut cause by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to
the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its joints and
ligaments, grows with the growth that is from God. 339
2:16
Accordingly, these missionaries observed the regular Jewish festivals almost certainly including Yom Kippur. The author of Colossians re!larcled
such observance as improper if it was based on the cosmological presuppositions criticized by him. However, he "is not condemning the use of
336
Rom 14:5-6, NRSV.

In Gal4:10, Paul warns his readers not to "observe special days, and months, and
seasons, and years," probably referring to pagan festivals with an astrological background. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain the reference to "special years" against a
Jewish background in the Diaspora, as Sabbath years and Jubilees are valid only in the
land of Israel. Another, less probable but very common reading is to understand this
passage as referring to Jewish festivals that Jewish-Christian missionaries tried to impose
on Gentile Christians, similar to the situation pertaining in Colossians. In this case, it is
almost certain that these Jewish-Christian missionaries observed the festivals they
wanted to impose on others, including Yom Kippur.
338
The exact identity of the opponents of the author of Colossians is controversial.
Barth and Blanke, Colossians (pp. 378-387) assume that the opponents consider them,.
selves to be Christians and have a strong affinity to the Old Testament but are outside the '
Colossian community. Stettler, Der Kolosserhymnus, pp. 58-74, sees Jewish mystics and
Torah-faithful Jews outside the community as opponents of the Epistle.
339
Col2:16-20, my translation based on the NRSV. On this passage, see O'Brien,
Colossians, Philemon, pp. 135-156; Schweizer, Der Brief an die Kolosser, pp. 118-130;
Barth and Blanke, Colossians, pp. 336-355.
337
14:1 On the Lord's Day of the LORD (KatU KuplaJCitv Oi: ICUpioo) gather together and
break bread and give thanks, having first confessed your sins so that your sacrifice
may be pure. 2 But let no one who has a qu~l with a companion join you ~t!l
they have been reconciled, so that your sacnfice may not be defiled. 3 For thiS IS
the sacrifice concerning which has been said by the LORD (intO JCUPioo), "In every
place and time offer me a pure sacrifice, for I am a great king, says the LORD
(Uy&~. tcilpW<;), and my name is marvelous (Sa.tJtlamOv) among the nations"
(Malachi 1:11.14). 342
)Accc>rdiing to Tidwell, the hapaxlegomenon and /ectio difjicilior Kata =

& KUpiou in the Hierosolymitanus of Didache 14:1 is a pleonastic
'Semitism imitating ]1mtv n~tv, one of the nan1es of Yom Kippur. 343 The use
without the article corresponds to the Septuagint's translations of
+~'P"'""' superlative found in the Hebrew Bible using the Tetragr=aton:
the Lord's Day of the LoRD," meaning "the most solemn day of the
days." The Syrian Christian term KUptaiCI\ distinguishes the
;~!rristi'm holiday from the Jewish Sabbath.344 Didache 14:1 is therefore
understood as equivalent to "Sabbath of Sabbaths," i.e. Yom Kippur.
major topic of Didache 14, confession and reconciliation, matches the
: ~ate;l!leJlt in Mishnah Yom a 8:9 that "Yom Kippur atones for transgresbetween a man and his fellow man only after he has placated the felmao." Furthermore, the marvelous nan1e of the LORD plays an imporrole in Didache 14 as well as during the Yom Kippur temple ritual.
ritual meal alluded to would have taken place on the eve of Yom
''"''-n'n
Tidwall' s suggestion does not convince me. While the confession, the
;:~~:~~~~::~~and the significance assigned to God's nao1e evoke the as-
~-::;
of Yom Kippur, the sacrificial common meal seems to take place
''"""~''" Lord's Day of the LoRD" itself and therefore comes closer to an
O'Brien, Colossians, Philemon, p. 139.

N. Tidwell, "Didache XIV:l (KATA KYPIAKHN 6.E KYPIOY) revisited," Vigiliae
'(;histi<mae 53 (1999) 197-207.
. -.- Didache 14:1-3, trans!. Holmes adapted to Tidwell's article.
This term appears also in cf. Rev 1:10; Ignatius, To the Magnesians 9:1; Gospel of
9:35; 12:50; Apostolic Constitutions 7:30:1 - for the text and a French translation
Metzger, Les Constitutions apostoliques (3 _vols; SC 320, 329, 336; Paris 1985~
1987), here SC 336, pp. 6()..{;1.
anti-ritual against Yom Kippur similar to the pork barbeque that some
secular Jews hold on the Day of Atonement in our times. 345 Furthermore,
though "the Lord's Day of the LoRD" could be a pun on 11nJtu nJtu, the
sentence does not give any date. It could as well be Easter. If we understand KatO. lC'UptaKT)v ot K'Upiau in a pleonastic sense, as do the majority of
.
commentators, the meal takes place on a Sunday.346 Moreover, the add"xtlon
to the quotation of Malachi "in every place and time"347 supports such an
interpretation much better than does an understanding of the day as being
Yom Kippur. Therefore, if there is any connection to Yom Kippur in
Didache 14, it seems to me more likely that it presents Sunday as a substitution for Yom Kippur- an interpretation that matches other Halakhot in
the Didache on fasting and the Sabbath as distingnishing the community
from (other) Jews. 348
!fLuke's commnnity, parts of the Roman community and the opponents
of Colossians observed Yom Kippur, 349 what about the various Jewish
Christian groups of the second and subsequent centuries? Even here, we
are entirely dependent on hypotheses, since the sources are not explicit
about any festival observed by Jewish Christians. James, the brother of Jesus, one of the leaders of the Aramaic-speaking Christian Jewish community in Jerusalem nntil his lynching in 62 CE, is closely associated with the
temple. As will become clear below, Hegesippus' depiction of James as a
permanently interceding high priest in the holy of holies might be understood as polemicizing against the Jewish Christian observation of the fast
of Yom Kippur as a single day ofintercession. 350 It appears that some Jewish Christians still observed the Day of Atonement while others, even some
close to Jewish Christianity, considered the day obsolete for Christians.
345
Was the confession public as portrayed in Didache 4:14?

See, e.g. K. Niederwimmer, Die Didache (Kommentar zu den Apostolischen
Viitern 1; Gattingen, 1993), pp. 234-240, esp. p. 235; W. Rordorfand A. Tuilier, La doctrine des douze apOtres (Didach). Introduction, Texte, Traduction, Notes, Appendice et
Index (SC 248; Paris, 1978), p. 65.
347
See R.P. Gordon, "Targumic Parallels to Acts XIII 18 and Didache XIV 3," Novum
Testamentum 16 (1974) 285-289, here p. 287 referring to Targum Jonathan Mall:ll.
343
The Didache quotes only Mal I: 11 and I: 14, omitting 1: 12-13, verses that are often
used in anti-Jewish polemics: see Niederwimmer, Die Didache, p. 240. However, verses
12 and 13 would not match the present Eucharistic context.
349
Unfortunately, it remains unclear to which "appointed times and hours" (00plq~vou;
~eatpaV; ~eai ci>patc;) I Clement 40: 1-5 is referring, at which the Christian offerings are to be
perfonned.
350
346
219
6.2 The Abolition of Yom Kippur by First- and Second-Century Christians
At some point after Jesus' death, in different communities at different

times, some followers of Jesus ceased to observe Yom Kippur. Again, our
data are circumstantial and consist mainly of explicit polemics against
Yom Kippur. Here we have to distinguish, however, between the negati:e
attitudes toward the Yom Kippur temple ritual and attitudes toward the ntual of the people. Disregarding the temple ritual does not mean neglecting
the popular abstentions such as the fast. In other words, even if a text considers Christ's death as abolishing or replacing the temple ritual, this says
nothing about the attitude of its author and its readers toward the fast of
Yom Kippur. Hengel made his above-cited statement in a discussion about
the attitude of Luke to the temple and the sacrificial cult of Yom Kippur
and deduced from this Luke's attitude toward the festival as such. 351 However, even though the author of Luke-Acts polemicized against the sacrificial cult he continued to respect the fast and prayer of the people on Yom
Kippur. Moreover, theory and practice do not always converge. Even if
Luke regarded Christ's death as atoning- and this assumption is controversial - he may have continued to observe the communal fast and prayer
of Yom Kippur- just as other Jews and God-fearers fasted and participated in the prayer services of the Second Temple period when the high
priest was actually effecting atonement on behalf of them in the temple.
Of the first-century texts, ouly Barnabas explicitly argnes against the
popular participation in the fast, substituting for it the Eucharist:
Despite the fact that a commandment was written that "whosoever does not keep
the fast shall die the death," 352 the Lord commanded this [i.e. to eat], b~cause he
himself was going to offer the vessel of the spirit as a sacrifice for our sms ... you
alone shall eat, while the people fast and mourn in sackcloth and ashes. 353
This substitution may have been part of the proto-typology, i.e. it may
have occurred very early. Beyond this passage, it is possible that the author
of Colossians is propagating the abolition of all festivals. 354 Nevertheless~
we cannot extrapolate from these texts an anti-Yom Kippur attitude in
other communities - as shown in Luke and Romans. Only in the second
century are more voices raised explicitly against the fast of Yom Kippur. 355
The anonymous Epistle to Diognet (second or third century CE) holds
forth:
351
See above, p. 213.

Cf. Lev 23:29.
353
Barnabas 1:3.5.
3S4 See also above, p. 216, note 337, on Gal4:10.
m See my earlier analysis of the ambiguous phrase of Tertullian (above, p. 157,
note 40). Justin, notably, does not polemicize against the "obsolete" fast of Yom Kippur.
352
And next I suppose that you are especially anxious to hear why Christians do
worship in the same way as the Jews. The Jews indeed, insofar as they abstain -:
from the kind of [pagan] worship described above, rightly claim to worship tli'e
one God of the universe and to think of him as Master. ... But with regard to their
qualms (lJHxpOO<;) regarding meats, and the superstition (&:tcn&:n.~ovUtv) concern~
the Sabbath, and the false pretension (W..CU:owiav) in circumcision, and the hypo.._
crisy (eipom:iav) about the Fast (ti\<; Vl')<ftsia<;) and the New Moon, I do not think
that you need to learn from me that they are ridiculous and not worth a word. JS.S
Likewise Aristides (117-161 CE):

Nevertheless they [the Jews] too erred from true knowledge and in theit
imagination they think to serve God, whereas by their mode of observance it is to
the angels and not to God that their service is rendered -as when they celebrate
Sabbaths and New Moons, and feasts of Unleavened Bread, and the Great Fast,
and fasting and circumcision and the purification of food- things, however, which
they do not observe perfectly. 357
,,
'
These are clear-cut polemics against observances regarded as Jewish

therefore non-Christian, including the fast of Yom Kippur. We do not,
however, have the means to estimate how many people stood behind the
one position or the other in the second century.
Further evidence in favbr of the abolition of Yom Kippur has been seen
in the typological interpretations of the temple cult. Certainly, this theological argument has some weight to it as made manifest by the polemics
in Barnabas. Origen and Chrysostom, too, will use this argument to try to
convince Christians observing Yom Kippur not to do so. 358 Regarding
first-century texts with allegorical and typological interpretations of the
Yom Kippur temple ritual, however, we cannot simply read into all of
them a negative stance toward the Jewish ritual. At this point, I would like
to recall the list of four possible relationships between a ritual and its interpretation, mentioned in the introduction: 359
a) Interest in and support for the ritual by proposing a new rationale

b) Neutral disinterest in the realities, sometimes in favor of a more
spiritualized level
c) Substitution of the ritual for temporary constraints
d) Substitution of the ritual for theological and sociological reasons
356
Diognet3:1-4:1, transl. Holmes.

357
Syriac Aristides, Apology, 14:4, my translation after ANF. Cf. the Italian translation
in C. Alpigiano, Aristide di Atene. Apologia (Biblioteca Patristica II; Florence, 1988),
p. 113; and the German in E. Hennecke, Die Apologie des Aristides (Texte und Untersuchungen 4:3; Leipzig, 1893), p. 35.
358
See below, pp. 265-272 and 278-279.
359
See above, pp. 6--7 _
221
of the Christian Jewish writings investigated displays the first aliias exemplified in /Enoch, nor the third attitude, favored by the
yet Paul, who considered the temple service to be among the Godgifts (Romans 9:4) when allegorizing it in Romans 3:25 and in Gala3:10.13, is probably an example of the second attitude, supporting a
spiritual worship - similar to Philo 360 As noted above, Paul does not
the observance of Jewish festivals in Rome. Most of the Christian
Writin!!S investigated in this chapter belong to the fourth group. We have
seen that Barnabas and Tertullian combined harsh polemics
the temple with criticism of the fast. We have no information rethe stance of Hebrews or }John toward Jewish prayer assemblies
the temple or toward the fast, yet their typologies take a clearly
mtii-t<:mJDie stand and their imaginaires strive to construct a substitute for
t~'ertoan:s. the same is true for Matthew.
lr<:g,.rd the following four reasons as responsible for the decline of Yom
Ki~~~~in~:th::e~ 1~~iturgical calendar of Christianity:
'
the destruction of the temple ended the most solemn part
cult, the celebration of the high-priestly ritual. The destruction of the
could be used not only as a theological argument, validating the
~~:.;~~~i:~s of Jesus or being interpreted as punishment for his crucifixion.
to Luke's portrayal in Acts, the temple was the center of warChristian Jews. In the temple, however, they had to follow
; t11e-relillio:us calendar of the establishment, particularly on Yom Kippur.
Theologically, the vicarious atoning death of Christ decreased the im'/portan<:e of other means of atonement and in the eyes of some made them
.':en:tirely void. At the beginning of the second century, the myth of Christ as
priest permanently interceding for his followers in the heavenly holy
Of holies had won quite widespread attention and was considered by some
an appropriate and superior substitution. However, we should not exagthe weight of the theological argument. A considerable number of
and fourth-century Christians in Syria-Palestine celebrated Yom
together with their Jewish neighbors. Origen, Chrysostom and
t:
Philo and 4Maccabees I7 solved the question how to achieve atonement in a place
or time (4Maccabees), where the temple is out of reach in most instances in a
way to Paul in Romans 3:25. This was true also for the proto-Christian commun. Palestine and especially for those who disregarded the temple. The discusto whether "the theology of the cross" led to an anti-temple attitude or an antiattitude led to a theology of the cross narrows the historical situation to a theoquestion. But there are many more factors - historical, liturgical and sociological
I argue below.
Byzantine legal texts provide ample evidence for this 361 While these texts
demonstrate that the leading theologians considered observation of Yom
Kippur to be anti-Christian, a large part of the population continued to be
attracted to this means of atonement without perceiving the observation to
be theologically problematic. This is true, as well, for Jewish Christians
who may have regarded the death of Jesus as atoning and yet kept on
observing Yom Kippur.
Liturgically, a fast and intercessionary prayers could be observed on any
given day in the year, preferably on a theologically meaningful date such
as around the memorial day of Jesus' death. Jesus' intercession in the
heavenly holy of holies was ongoing and could be remembered at any
place or time, making not ouly the geographical but also the chronological
anchoring of Yom Kippur unnecessary. Fasting and prayer for atonement,
too, were possible throughout the whole year. Consequently, communal
fast could be moved to any other date, preferably one of religious importance. The phenomenon of a pre-paschal fast from Friday to Sunday
morning (the only early Christian complete abstention from food and drink
lasting more than 24 hours)362 probably has to be understood in this way,
as a transformed continuation uf the fast accompanying the atoning service
of the Christian high priest in the heavenly holy ofholies. 363
Sociologically, Gentiles who became Christians without an intermediate
station as God-fearers via the synagogue reinforced the introduction of
pagan religious behavior unconnected to Jewish festivals. 364 The latter
point is important for understanding the difference between Christian
Jewish, Jewish Christian and Gentile Christian communities. The question
of whether to observe the Jewish autumn festivals was one not only of
theology but also of collective tradition, otherwise it is difficult to explain
361

I would like to thank Stephane Verhelst for drawing my attention to this point.
363
On the pre-paschal fast and Yom Kippur, see Tertullian, On Fasting 2:13-14; On
Prayer 18. In general, see Irenaeus apud Eusebius, History of the Church 5:24:17ff;
Justin, First Apology 61; Traditio Apostolica 33 (ed. Batte, SC llbis, pp. 114-115); ApostolicConstitutions 7:23:4 (ed. Metzger, SC 336, pp. 50-51); Didascalia 21 (ed. VOObus,
CSCO 407, pp. 214:&-217:19 [text]; CSCO 408, pp. 199:1-201:20 [trans!.]). A detailed
investigation of Didascalia 21 is included in G.A.M. Rouwhorst, Les hymnes pasca/es
d'Ephrem de Nisibe. Analyse theologique et recherche sur l'ivolution de laflte pascale
chrtienne a Nisibe et a Edesse et dans quelques Eglises voisines au quatrime sicle
(2 vols; Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 7; Leiden, 1989), vol. 1, pp. 157-190. On
the connection to Mark 2:20, see F.G. Cremer, Die Fastenansage Jesu. Mk 2,20 und
Parallel en in der Sicht der Patristischen und Scholastischen Exegese (Bonner Biblische
Beitrage 23; Bonn, 1964), pp. 21-40.
364
See above, p. 214, note 331, for references in Philo, Josephus and the Palestinian
Talmud on pagan God-fearers observing Yom Kippur rituals.
361
223
the continuation of Yom Kippur observance in Jewish Christian communities who conceived of Jesus' death as vicarious atonement in the same way
as Gentile Christians did. Obviously, the argrunentations of Paul, Hebrews
and Colossians influenced Christian thought and behavior. Yet the clue as
to why particularly these texts were successful lies not only in the quality
of their argument but also in the sociological and historical circumstances
of the disparate types of early Christian communities. The theological
arguments were probably more convincing to a Gentile audience in the
Diaspora, especially when the temple no longer exist.
6.3 The History of Traditions
We can now return to the question of what can be learnt from the early
Christian texts about the different attitudes toward the ritual and imaginaire of Yom Kippur in the temple and outside it. Three general theological and literary developments have to be mentioned concerning Yom Kippur in Christian Jewish thought in the early decades of the first century, the
thirties and forties. First, some Christian Jews conceived of Jesus' death as
vicarious atonement. 365 Second, prophetic passages and motifs from common legends served some Christian Jews who, in telling the story of Jesus'
Passion compensated in their own way for the lack of detailed historical
koowledge with prophetic passages, or rendered koowo historical details
theologically meaningful. Third, parts of Second Temple Judaism's expectations of a (high-)priestly Messiah were transferred to Christ.
In the proto-typology of Barnabas, the conceptions of Jesus as sin offering, scapegoat and an allusion to his high priesthood all cluster under the
umbrella of Yom Kippur. It is difficult to decide if the proto-typology was
developed by people in a Semitic or a Greek environment who were
familiar with the details of the ritual; whether by their priestly profession,
observance or acquaintance with an early form of Seder Avodah. In its
earliest form, this typological exegesis of Second Temple ritual regarded
Halakhah as a divine source of prophecy, an assumption that was turned
upside down by the heirs of the tradition. Probably this did not yet entail
an anti-temple attitude as in Barnabas or Hebrews.
365
Several factors caused this development, including such cross-cultural Mediterranean concepts as the Noble Death and the Pharmakos, but also more specific Jewish
ideas such as the death of the righteous and sacrificial understandings of martyrs' deaths.
To narrow this concept to an intra-Jewish development completely detached from its
environmental culture is a rather improbable reduction of the evidence regarding the
setting of Second Temple Judaism as a creative religion at the crossroads of many
cultures.
If the proto-typology was not originally fonnulated in Greek, it must

have entered a Greek context at some point to be received by Barnabas,
Justin and Tertullian. Possibly it is at this point also that the anti-temple
tendency was added - an influence that could be connected to such groups
as those that emerged around Stephen. It is not clear when the concept of
the Eucharist as anti-type to the fasting on Yom Kippur entered the prototypology. It must be assumed that any group holding this opinion consequently did not observe the fast of Yom Kippur - a development more
probable in the second stage of the tradition since the first stage regarded
post-biblical Halakhah as a cherished source of prophecy.
Greek-speaking Christian Jews developed the ll.aatl\ptov-typology of
Romans 3:24/25-26*. This must have happened at some point before 56 CE
in a communitY with which Paul had been in contact- i.e. in any city from
Antioch to Corinth. If Paul's source already had an anti-temple attitude,
the setting of the fonnula could be the same as the Greek proto-typology of
Barnabas or Hebrews.
In a second stage, Paul adapted Yom Kippur traditions in two letters
written around 55 CE. 366 Considering his rare use of temple cult metaphors,
this indicates the relatively serious importance attached to Yom Kippur
temple ritual among these typologies.367 This appeal of the Yom Kippur
temple ritual matches Romans 9:4, where Paul reveals how highly he regards the temple service by subsuming it under the God-given gifts.
The cross-cultural phenomenon of Pharmakos rituals may have served
as a catalyst for Paul's Christological scapegoat typology in Galatians,
perhaps also for other New Testament passages such as John 1:29 and
!Peter 2:24. It probably did so for the reception of the proto-typology of
Barnabas in Justin, Tertullian and Hippolytus and of the scapegoat typologies in Origen.368 Probably for the same reasons of an easily understandable rationale, Matthew reformulated his Barabbas episode along the lines
of the Second Temple scapegoat ritual 369
In the third stage, Hebrews (60-90 CE) and Barnabas (around 100? CE)
certainly polemicize against the temple, as most probably does !John (90100 CE). Finally, to the authors all of the discussed texts - the prototypology of Barnabas (and Barnabas itself), Romans 3:24/25-26*, Hebrews, !John, Paul and Matthew - attribute a special importance to cultic
3
Rom 3:24-26* and Gal3:10.13.

By way of comparison: Passover is mentioned only once in 1Cor 5:7.
368
369
Matthew is usually considered as writing to a Jewish-Christian audience, one that
included Gentiles, perhaps in Syria around 90 CE. See Schnelle, Einleitung in das Neue
Testament, pp. 261-264. Others date Matthew slightly earlier, see ibidem.
66
367
225
sacrificial atonement achieved by means of a mediator. However, it would

be wrong to conclude that Yom Kippur outside the temple had no impact
on earliest Christianity. Colossians 1:12-20 may be one such case; the
influence of a Seder Avodah on Barnabas may be another. Ultimately, the
corpus of Second Temple Yom Kippur prayers is too small for a reasonable degree of certainty to be reached on this point.
Concluding Thoughts
Yom Kippur had a decisive influence on the formulation of the early
Christian myths of the atoning death of Christ and his permanent intercession in the heavenly holy of holies. Three major typologies depict Jesus as
scapegoat and sin-offering goat (Barnabas), high priest, veil and sacrifice
(Hebrews) and kapporet (Romans). All of them belong to the formative
period and were probably in use already before Paul.370 This threefold
impact of Yom Kippur on the formation of the earliest Christian
conceptions of Christ's vicarious atoning death has not received sufficient
emphasis in previous scholarship.
Regarding Barnabas, the age and importance of the proto-typology has
not been acknowledged by earlier investigations of Yom Kippur's impact
on earliest Christianity - those by Norman H. Young, J.P. Scullion or
Wolfgang Kraus, who approached the topic from a canonical viewpoint.
Barnabas' importance for understanding earliest Christology is not less
than that of Hebrews and Romans, even if its impact was smaller. Any
belittling of Barnabas' importance relegates the early Christian use of its
Christological scapegoat typology to an unjustifiably marginal status. On
the other hand, despite the direct influence of Barnabas on the Passion narrative in the Gospel of Peter, an influence of the scapegoat rite on all
canonical Passion narratives (Crossan's theSis) is unlikely. Concerning the
Epistle to the Hebrews, I have proposed a new theory of emergence of the
high-priestly Christology, with Yom Kippur as root rather than as late
frame. As for Romans, I have argued for one of the two "classic" interpretations ofRomaus 3:25, i.e. the typologization of the kapporet. Yet unlike
most others, I see no compelling reasons to assume that Paul wanted to
advocate a substitution of the temple ritual for Yom Kippur. All three of
these texts used earlier Yom Kippur traditions, making Yom Kippur one of
the first cultic imageries to be used in the fonnation of the Christian
mythology.
370
I.e., the proto-typology behind Barnabas (including the allusion to Jesus' higb.
priesthood in Zech 3) and the source of Paul, Rom 3:24-25*.
!John compares Jesus to the atonement, using Yom Kippur imagery.

This interpretation belongs to a later stage in the development of Christian
Judaism, probably the end of the first centnry.
Beyond these texts, further passages include less obvious allusions to
Yom Kippur. Schwartz' argument for a connection of Galatians 3:10.13 to
the scapegoat ritual is very plausible and may be strengthened by further
arguments. I propose a new reading associating also Matthew27:15-23
with the scapegoat ritual. Other allusions to the scapegoat rationale may be
seen in the Larub of God (John I :29) and the Christo logical application of
the Servant Song in !Peter 2:24; but the arguments for this view are much
less compelling. Finally, an influence on the Christological songs of
Philippians and, in particular, Colossians is possible, but such a claim
needs to be strengthened by more evidence.
Sources of Jewish influence on the early Christian imaginaire encompass a range of types. Some of the earliest Christian texts on Yom Kippur
(Barnabas, Hebrews, Matthew) betray intimate knowledge of temple ritual. The justification of Jesus' high priesthood with Zechariah 3 probably
reflects Second Temple Judaism's imaginaire of Yom Kippur with its linkage of Zechariah 3 to Yom Kippur. Hebrews seems to be close to apocalyptic traditions of the high-priestly ascent to the presence of God in the
heavenly holy of holies and the cosmological fight against the leaders of
the evil powers. No Christian Jewish writing seems to have been influenced by the Bible, alone, detached from oral or written traditions and
from the rites of the contemporary Yom Kippur.
The main importance of the Yom Kippur passages in the New Testament lies in their becoming "the canon within the canon." Beginning with
Origen, readers approach Paul primarily via Hebrews, which until modem
times would be associated with his name. Romans 3 is understood as a
summary of the expose in Hebrews, rendered Paul the theologian of substitution and sacrifice -to a far greater extent than he indeed was. 371 Most
important, the rationale of Christian ritual is explained mainly on the basis
of the conceptions of Hebrews. The celebrant of the Eucharist is a vicar of
the heavenly high priest, the church is the temple, and the Eucharist is
Christ's sacrifice. 372
Two factors may account for this strong impact of Yom Kippur on early
Christian mythology. First, Yom Kippur was of central importance for any
Jew. It was highly mythologized and connected to eschatological expectations of a priestly redeemer. Its atoning function could be easily connected
to the rationale of Jesus' death as vicarious atonement. Second, from a
371
372

227
cross-cultural perspective, sacrificial categories are more easily translatable than refmed allusions to local mythologies such as those of the Old
Testament. It is therefore possible that one reason for the spread of the
high-priestly Christology and the scapegoat typology was that they were
useful in the Christian mission to the pagans. While the first factor applies
to the shaping of the mythology, the second explains its acceptance and
elaboration.
Most Christian Jewish sources- Hebrews, Barnabas, !John and probably Matthew - polemicize against the temple ritual of Yom Kippur and
presume its substitution by Christ's self-sacrifice and by Christian worship. Yet Acts 27:9 demonstrates that some Christian communities
continued to observe Yom Kippur's fast, among them Luke's community,
opponents of the author of Colossians and part of the Roman community
(Romans 14:5-{i). Of all first-centnry Christian Jewish writings, only
Barnabas betrays opposition to the popular fast. That this aversion was
probably expressed also in the proto-typology shows that different Christian Jewish groups could from the beginning of the Jesus movement until
at least the end of the first century hold opposite attitudes to Yom Kippur's
fast. Paul takes an intermediate position, leaving it up to the individual
follower of Jesus to decide which festivals to observe. Other individuals
and communities did not adopt the fast or stopped observing it for any of
various reasons: theological (conception of Jesus' atoning death and his
permanent heavenly intercession), historical (the destruction of the temple), liturgical (fasting is more individual and not bound to a worship
structure) and/or sociological (increasingly Gentile Church). Nevertheless,
as will be seen in the chapter on Christian autumn festivals, a number of
Christians continued celebrating Yom Kippur, and other Jewish festivals,
with their Jewish neighbors until at least the fourth century 373
373
Yom Kippur Imagery in Gnosticism and in Early Christian Mysticism
229
gen)I The chronological relationship of the Nag Hammadi texts to the

writings quoted by the Church Fathers is unclear. The three teachers Theodotus, Marcus and Heracleon, pupils of Valentinus - lived at the beginning of the second half of the second century. The G_ospel of Philip is
dated to the third century but is usually understood as bemg a collectwn of
earlier sources.
Chapter 5
Yom Kippur Imagery in Gnosticism and in

Early Christian Mysticism
The imagery of the high priest's entrance into the holy of holies was
widely used as a mytholegumenon in soteriology, in initiation rituals of
Valentinian Christianity and in Clement of Alexandria's mysticism. These
Christian Gnostic and mystic traditions take up the common Jewish image
describing divine visions in apocalypticism and in the Hekhalot literature;
Clement also adopts Philonic ~oncepts. In this chapter, the first section examines the use of the high priesCs entrance in the Valentinian conception
of the eschatological entry of Jesus and his followers into the Pleroma. The
second section deals with the application of this mytholegumenon in descriptions of the initiation ritual of the bridal chamber in the Gospel of
Philip. The final section analyzes briefly the mystical vision of God in
Clement of Alexandria, showing its dependence on the entrance of the high
priest in Valentinian soteriology and Philonic mysticism.
Two fmdings make this investigation an important contribution to the
guiding question of the influence of Yom Kippur on early Christianity.
First, the Valentinian Christian authors do not simply adopt the mytholegumenon from their Jewish tradition, rather they return to Leviticus 16
and post-biblical traditions for embellishing the Yom Kippur motifs in the
texts, i.e. Yom Kippur remains an important source of inspiration. Second,
the initiation ritual of the bridal chamber is the earliest use of Yom Kippur
imagery in a Christian ritual. Of general interest beyond the impact of
Yom Kippur is the position of Valentinian texts in the history of the
tradition of the proto-mystical heavenly journey with regard to the three
forms of mysticism: Philo, Hekhalot literature and Clement.
The sources investigated include two Nag Hammadi codices - the Gospel of Philip (NHC 2:3), and the Valentinian Exposition (NHC 11 :2)- and
traditions from three different schools of Valentinian Gnostic Christianity
(Theodotus, Marcus and Herac!eon) preserved in the polemics of three
"mainstream" Christian writers (Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus and Ori-
1. The High Priest's Entrance in Valentinian Soteriology

The earliest Valentinian texts with the high priest's entrance are found in
two passages in Clement's Excerpts from Theodotus (Excerpta ex Theadolo),' chapters 27 and 38. They describe an eschatological approach to
God in the picture of the high priest entering the holy of holies. Since the
Valentinian authorship of Excerpts from Theodotus 27 is disputed and it
may have originated with either Theodotus or Clement, it will be discussed
in the third section, on Clement 3 Here, I will focus on the undoubtedly
Valentinian chapter 38: 4
A) A river of flre goes forth under the throne 5 of Topos and flows into the void
(t:i.r; .o KevOv) of the creation which is Gehenna/ and it is never filled, though the
fire flows from the beginning of creation. And Topos itself is fiery. 7 Therefore, he
1 1 speak of three Gnostic teachers for the sake of simplicity. It is usually assumed
that in Excerpts from Theodotus Clement collected the works of several Valentinian
Gnostic thinkers.
2 Theodotus has been preserved only indirectly, in Excerpts from Theodotus by Clement of Alexandria. Due to the character of the book it is often unclear which portions
derive from Theodotus (or other Valentill:ian sources) and which belong to Clement's
commentary. I used the Greek edition and French translation by F. Sagnard, Clement
d'Alexandrie. Extraits de Theodote. Texte grec, introduction, traduction et notes (SC 23;
Paris, 1948), and the sometimes less trustworthy English translation by R.P. Casey, ~he
Excerpta ex Theodoto of Clement of Alexandria. Edited with Translation, IntroductiOn
and Notes (Studies and Documents I; London, 1934).
3 See pp. 240-243, below.
4 For our purposes it is not important whether the anonymous quotation is by Theodotus, as most scholars agree, or by someone else, as is possible: cf. Sagnard, Clement
d'Alexandrie. Extraits de Theodote, pp. 140-141.
s Cf. JEnoch 14:19 "And from underneath the throne came forth streams of blazing
fire" and Dan 7:9-10 "a river of fire streamed and came forth from before him."
6 For a similar picture of the fiery stream, the sweat of the 111'n flowing from the
throne to the Gehenna, see bHag 13b as exegesis of Dan 7:9-10. Joachim Jeremi~ traces
the "void of the creation" to a popular etymology of the Gehinnom as z:JJ~n R1l (I.e. "Tal
des Vergeblichen") referred to in Hofius, Der Vorhang vor dem Thron Gottes, p. 15,
note 73.
1
Cf. e.g. Deut 4:24 for the depiction of God as fiery.
says (cp11ai), he has a veil (Ka-raxS:caaJla) in order that the [spirits] may not be destroyed by the sight [of him]. And only the archangel enters to him (Jl6voo; Of: 0
J\pxO:y-yeJ..oo; iapxetatnp0r; aU-r6v).
B) As an image for this, also the high priest entered the holy of holies once
every year (oU Kat' eiK6va t::ai 6 O.pttep~ xal; toU tvtatrtoUS eio; tO: ciyta -c&v &:yi.rov
eim]et). 9
C) Thence (S:veev) Jesus, called for help, also sat down with Topos (G1.1VKa9i:o9TJ
-r<{l T6x<9), that the [spirits] might remain and not rise (npoavao-r1J) before him, and
that he might tame (fu.tepOOoTJ) Topos and provide (1tapO.axtJ) the seed with a passage
(OioOov) into the Pleroma. 10
The scene, which appears in the context of a description of the netherworld

and the destiny of hylics, psychics and pneumatics, can be described as
follows: The demiourgos (Topos) sits on the throne in the holy of holies.
He is covered by a veil to protect the pneumatics, who would be destroyed
by the sight of him. 11 The pneumatics have to cross this dangerous zone
(the holy of holies) to reach the Pleroma. This transit is possible only with
the aid of Jesus the high priest and the angel of the Pleroma, who comes
down to placate the demiourgos.
The entrance of the high priest to the holy of holies signifies the incarnation of Jesus in the psychic Christ. 12 The demiourgos is a dangerous
deity but not an evil one, given that he will not be annihilated; after the
entrance of the seeds to the Pleroma, he will stay in the eighth realm and
inherit the place of Sophia. 13
This description has a tripartite structure: an apocalyptic tradition (A), a
reference to the biblical typology (B) and an explanation (C) that incorporates A and B in the Valentinian mythos. The juxtaposition of the Gnosti8
Excerpts from Theodotus 38 is the only Valentinian passage to include the
chronological reference to 0:1ta~ toii ivtau-roii, i.e. the eschatological Yom Kippur, in the
typology. This may be for its clearly eschatological concept over and against more
ambivalent or clearly non-eschatological concepts in the other Valentinian texts.
9
Cf. Heb 9:7a: it; oe t:i)v Orut:i:pav [CfiCTlVi)v] ti1Taq ro1] ivzaurOUjl6 VQ r; 6 dpxt&pt;{Jt;. Yet
the similarity between the two passages is very generaL Any allusion to the Epistle to the
Hebrews might rather derive from the epitomizing Clement: see pp. 232, note 17, below.
10
I have made slight changes to Casey's translation, based on Sagnard's edition.
11
Notably, Theodotus does not draw upon the ceniral act of the apocalyptic visionary,
who joins the heavenly liturgy in his prayer.
12
As is stated, for example in Excerpts from Theodotus 59:2-3: "And when he came
into the region of Topos, Jesus found to clothe himself in the foretold Christ, whom the
Prophets and the Law announced as an image of the Savior. But even this psychic Christ
that he put on was invisible, and it was necessary for him when he came into the world to
be seen here, to be seized, to be a citizen, and to hold on to a sensible body. A body,
therefore, was spun for him out of an invisible psychic substance and arrived in the world
of the senses empowered by a divine preparation" (my translation, based on Casey).
13
Cf. Excerpts from Theodotus 34.
231
cizing interpretation (C) with the apocalyptic tradition (A) modifies the
latter extensively. Its main point has shifted completely. The scopos is no
longer the description of a "mystical" experience or a heavenly journey to
learn about cosmological secrets, but an eschatological myth. Furthermore,
central features are changed, similar to the shift in the biblical creation
myth in Gnostic interpretation. God has been downgraded to demiourgos, a
jealous minor deity who is an obstacle to the true aim of the ascent; and the
entrance to the throne is perceived as merely a step on the path to salvation
in the Pleroma and to the fmal unification with God.
One of the sources of Excerpts from Theodotus 38 was a Jewish mystical text; 14 in Scholem's words:" 37-39 of the Excerpta ex Theodoto are
all soaked with Merkabah mysticism." 15 Indeed, the chapter appears to be
the oldest source for some terms and conceptions attested only much later
in Jewish literature; Excerpts from Theodotus 38 therefore manifests an
intermediate state between apocalyptic texts and the mysticism of the
Hekhalot literature. 16
14
Hofius calls Excerpts from Theodotus 38 a (Jewish) non-Gnostic text that was
inserted into its Valentinian context; Scholem and Lueken speak of Jewish elements or
tradition. Hofius, Der Vorhang vor dem Thron Gottes, pp. 15-16; Scholem, Jewish
Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition, pp. 34-35; Lueken, Michael,
pp. 96-97.
15
Scholem, Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition, p. 34,
note 10. It was Henri Marrou, who in a review of the second edition of Major Trends in
Jewish Mysticism drew Scholem's attention to this passage: see Revue du Moyen Age
Latin 5 (1949) 166-172, here p. 169. Scholem adds that "Jewish elements ... clearly
represent a deterioration of the Jewish tradition ... partly misunderstood or reinterpreted."
While most of the concepts appear in the prophetic visions and apocalyptic
heavenly journeys (the fiery river, the fiery God, the throne, the restricted access), and
I Enoch 14 is certainly very close to this text, the closest parallel is probably the famous
collection of passages on heavenly ascent in bHag 13a-14a.
16
For example, Topos recalls the Hebrew term Olj?i'Jil as a designation of God,
employed here as a term for the demiourgos: see Excerpts from Theodotus 34; 37; 59:2.
See also Scholem, Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition,
pp. 34-35. The expression 6 9p0vor; t:oi; T01tou, however, which Scholem linked with lNOJ
rnpn ?w and which is quoted by Hofius et al. as proof of further terminological proximity,
does not appear in Schafer's Concordance, neither did I find it on the Responsa Project
en-Rom ofBar-Ilan University (Version 8).1ts absence in early Hebrew literature points
to a certain terminological distance! By far the most common term is 11lJJ NO'J.
The emended term -cO: JtveU~at:a most probably designates those angels who as in
!Enoch 14:21, are not allowed to approach or look upon God. The J\pxtind.o<;: may refer
to the tradition of Michael as the angelic high priest in later texts: see Lueken, Michael,
pp. 96-97; and Scholem, Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition, p. 49, note 19. Scholem was apparently not aware of Lueken- otherwise he would
have quoted him instead ofMarrou on p. 34.
The editors argue also for an influence of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Yet this is by no means clear. The only possible parallel is: ''the high priest
entered the holy of holies once every year," which is similar to
Hebrews 9:7: "into the second [tent], once a year only the high priest
[entered]." 17 Yet the expression is quite general; Philo employs a similar
18
one. Moreover, even if one wants to argue on linguistic grounds, the sentence may derive not from Theodotus himself but from his epitomist,
Clement of Alexandria. Other than this vague allusion, Excerpts from
Theodotus 38 does not betray any specific influence from the Christology
of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the differences and omissions are numerous. No mention is made of Melchizedek, the sacrifice of his bloo~ or
Christ as a veil. Moreover, the contents of the holy of holies are completely different. Hebrews does not use the term OioOo to express the passageway to God. It is therefore possible that the strong priestly
connotations in the Jewish apocalyptic traditions of the vision of God 19
triggered Theodotns to connect it with a high-priestly Christology known
to him independently of Hebrews. In that case, the Epistle to the Hebrews
as well as chapter 38 are both independent witnesses to the same Jewish
,
apocalyptic tradition.
2. The High Priest's Entrance and the Ritual of the

Bridal Chamber
The image of the high priest's entrance into the holy of holies is connected
to the Valentinian ritnal of the bridal chamber as described in the Gospel of
20
Philip. The Gospel of Philip's employment of the imagery of the high
priest's entrance to the holy of holies addresses the central question of the
impact of Yom Kippur on early Christianity.
Students of Gnosticism knew the ritual of the bridal chamber already
before the Gospel of Philip was unearthed in Nag Hammadi, for example
from several passages in Irenaeus' Adversus Haereses. 11 Yet Irenaeus does
not link the temple images to the bridal chamber. Such an association appears for the first time in the Gospel of Philip in a form closely connected
to the traditions of Theodotus.
There were three buildings specifically for sacrifice in Jerusalem. The one facing the west was called "the holy." Another, facing south, was called "the holy of
the holy." The third, facing east, was called "the holy of the holies," the place
where only the high priest enters. Baptism is "the holy" building. Redemption is
the "holy of the holy." "The holy of the holies" is 1he bridal chamber. Baptism
includes the resurrection [and the] redemption; the redemption (takes place) in the
bridal chamber. But the bridal chamber is in that which is superior to[ ...] you (sg.)
will not find[ ... ] are those who pray[ ... ] Jerusalem.[ ...] Jerusalem who[ ... ] Jerusalem, [... ]those called the "holy of the holies" [... the] veil was rent, {... ]bridal
chamber except the image [-11 10 above. Because of this its veil was rent from top
to bottom. For it was fitting for some from below to go upward. The powers do not
see those who are clothed in the perfect light, and consequently are not able to
detain them. One will clothe himself in this light sacramentally in the union. 22
69
The Gospel of Philip imagines a Jerusalem with three sanctnaries having

openings to different directions (west, south, east) and of increasing sanctity, and associates them with three rituals (baptism, Redemption/Eucharist
and the "bridal chamber"). Most probably, this tripartite structnre imitates
the threefold sacred geography of the Jerusalem temple with devir, zevul
and ulam. Such a threefold partition appears also in a Heracleon23 - if we
1988). On the perplexing ritual of the bridal chamber, see De Coninck, "Entering God's
Presence," especially pp. 505-521 with extensive bibliography. One could add J.J. Buckley, "A Cult-Mystery in 'The Gospel of Philip'," Journal of Biblical Literature 99 (1980)
569-581; and the Valentinian inscription interpreted by P. Lampe, "An Early Christian
Inscription in the Musei Capitolini," Studio Theologica. Scandinavian Journal of
Theology 49 (1995) 79-92.
21
See Against the Heresies 1:7:1; 1:13:3-4; 1:21:3. Irenaeus cormects the ritual especially to the figure of the Valentinian teacher Marcus. On previous interpretations of the
ritual, see Buckley, '"A Cult-Mystery in 'The Gospel of Philip'," pp. 575-579.
12 Gospel of Philip 69:14--70:9, Isenberg's translation. Unfortunately, in this passage
the manuscript is tom exactly at the passage significant for understanding the ritual of the
bridal chamber.
23
Heracleon (ca. 145-180 CE), the disciple ofValentinus is known for having written
the first Christian commentary and the first commentary at all on a book of the New
Testament. He is preserved in Origen's commentary on John. a polemical response on
Heracleon. On his hermeneutics, see E.H. Pagels, The Johannine Gospel in Gnostic Exegesis: Herac/eon 's Commentary on John (Society of Biblical Literature Monograph
Finally, I do not know of any earlier attestation for the protective or concealing
function of the veil in front of the divine throne in a visionary text prior to Excerpts from
Theodotus 38. A veil of the Dvir appears in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice 4Q405 15
ii- 16, lines 3 and 5; however, without a concealing function (at least in the preserved
text). On the veil in other early Jewish texts, see Hofius, Der Vorhang vor dem Thron
Gottes.
17
Excerpts from Theodotus 38: 6 O.pxu:peUt; lixal; toti E.vtatrtoti tit; tO: iirta 't"OOv O.rirov
dmjtl. Heb 9:7: Eit; Sf: n]v SE:1rtpav O:ttal; toU ivtamoU J.t0vo<; 6 ci:pttEpsUt;.
18
Legatio ad Gaium 306 .a d8trta ... ti.<; a iixa:; l"Oii ivtamoii 0 J.ti:ra<; i.Ep-ilt; eiapxemt
't"f:t vr]auiq..
19
For the priestly connotations of the apocalyptic vision, see e.g. Himmelfarb, Ascent
to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, pp. 20--25 and 29-46.
20
The Gospel of Philip, found in Nag Hammadi, is commonly placed in a Valentinian
Gnostic provenance, probably in Syria. See the introduction to the Gospel of Philip by
Wesley Isenberg in J.M. Robinson, The Nag Hammadi Library in English (Leiden,
233
can rely on Origen. Heracleon compares the three spheres for pneumatics
psychics, and hylics to the holy of holies, 24 the forecourt of the temple2s
and the rest of the world26 The holy of holies is the Pleroma, which has
been accessed by Jesus the high priest and will be entered by the pneumatics.27
What do the holy of holies and the high priest's entrance symbolically
represent in the Gospel of Philip? The holy of holies is the place of pure
hght, the Pleroma. A veil conceals God's creative activity within.28 This
Series 17; Nashville [Tenn.] and New York, 1973), especially chapter 2. See also
Y. Janssens, "Heracleon. Commentaire sur I'Evangile selon saint Jean," Le Musion 12
(1959) 101-151; 277-299; W. Foerster, Von Valentin zu Herakleon. Untersuchungen
ii.ber die Que/len und die Entwicklung der valentinianischen Gnosis (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fiir die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der a!teren Kirche 7; Giessen, 1928), pp. 9-12; C. Bam.mel "Herakleon," Theologische Realencycloptidie, vol. 15
(1986) 54-57, with an extensive bibliography; C. Gianotto, "Heracleon," Encyclopedia of
the Early Church (1992) val. 1, p. 374; on the place of this fragment inHeracleon's theology, see also B. Aland, "Erwlihlungstheologie und Menschenklassenlehre. Die Theologie des Herakleon als Schliissel zum Verst~ndnis der christlichen Gnosis," in: M. Krause
(ed.), Gnosis and Gnosticism. Papers read at the Seventh International Conference on
Patristic Studies (Oxford, September 8th-13th 1975) (Nag Ham.madi Studies 8; Leiden,
1977; pp. 148-181), here pp. 160-164.
24
Or the temple.
25
Or Jerusalem.
26
Origen states: "(210) But let us also consider Heracleon's words. He says the ascent
[to] Jerusalem indicates the Lord's ascension from [the region ofj material things to the
psychic region (t't:n:O -c&v UA.uc&v ai~ -cOv 'I'UXtKOv -c6nov), which is an image of Jerusalem.
(211) And he thinks the expression, 'He found in the temple (i.apip),' [John 2:14) and not
'in the forecourt of the temple (xpov6.Cf1],' is used that it might not be thought that the
mere calling (KAi)<nv), apart from the Spirit, is aided by the Lord. For he considers the
temple (-cO iep6v) to be the holy of holies, which the high priest alone may enter (-cO: 11ev
0:-yta -c&v t'tyirov dvat
ei.~ ii !l6voc; 6 t'tp;t:ttpcil~ i.cn]at.). He says, I think, that the
pneumatics (?tve-up.anKO"iX;) advance to that place. The forecourt of the temple (1tpovii:ou),
where the Levites too are found, he considers to be a symbol of the psychics (WUXtKOOv)
who attain salvation outside the pleroma ... " Origen, Commentary on John 10:33 (210211 ), translation by R.E. Heine, Origen. Commentary on the Gospel According to John.
Books 1-10 (The Fathers of the Church 80; Washington, D.C., 1989); see SC 157 (Cecile
Blanc 1970). pp. 508-510 for the Greek.
27
It is not clear whether the pneumatics attain a high-priestly character (as in Excerpts
from Theodotus 37) or enter the Pleroma with the aid of Jesus, the high priest, as in
Excerpts from Theodotus 38.
28
..The mysteries of truth are revealed, though in type and image. The bridal chamber,
however, remains hidden. It is the holy in the holy. The veil at first concealed how God
controlled the creation. but when the veil is rent and the things inside are revealed, this
house will be left desolate, or rather will be [destroyed]. And the whole (inferior) god~
head will flee [from] here, but not into the holies [of the] holies, for it will not be able to
mix with the unmixed [light] and the [flawless] fullness, but will be under the wings of
235
veil is rent in the moment of C~st's death. 29 The high priest Jesus and
Gnostics who are called pnests, enter.30 Before that, they have to
some
, and be reborn. "If anyone becomes a son of the bn"dal
nceive the light
c~amber he will receive the light. If anyone does not receive it while he is
e re he ~ill not be able to receive it in the other place."31 This light helps
he,
powers, smce
"the powers do not

the Gnostic to overcome the watching
e those who are clothed in the perfect light, and consequently are not
s~le to detain them."32 A union with the light is achieved in a ritual,
~sacramentally." 33 The sacramental aspect of the ~on refers to the ritual
of the bridal chamber, which enables the Gnostic to enter. the holy of
hOlies. "The holies of the holies were revealed, and the bndal chamber
invited us in."34
.
April De Coninck has suggested that the bridal chamber was ~ mitlation ritnal with an un-erotic (and therefore godly) sexual umon, which was
upposed to restore the divine harmony by overcommg the pnmordtal
s
~
separation of man and woman.
the cross [and under] its anns. This ark will be [their] salvation when the flood l of water
surges over them. If some belong to the order of the pries~hood, they will be able to go
within the veil with the high priest. For this reason, the ved was not rent at the top only,
since it would have been open only to those above; nor w~ it rent at the bottom only,
since it would have been revealed only to those below. But It was rent from top to bottom. Those above opened to us the things below, in order that we may go in to the secret
of the truth. This truly is what is held in high regard (and) what is strong! But we shall go
in there by means of lowly types and forms of weakness. They are lowly inde~d when
compared with the perfect glory. There is glory which surpasses glory. There ts power
which surpasses power. Therefore, the perfect things have opened to us, tog~ther wtth the
hidden things of truth. The holies of the holies were revealed, and the bndal chamber
invited us in." Gospel of Philip 84:20-85:21, Isenberg's translation, here and henceforth.
On the aspect of revelation, see Valentini an Expos~tion NHC xi,2; 25?0-39. ""~He
is] ... the [true] High Priest, [the one who has] the authonty to enter the Holies ofHohes,
revealing the glory of the Aeons and bringing forth the abundance to 'fragrance'" (transl.
J.D. Turner).
29 Gospel of Philip 85:5-10.
. .
30 ""If some belong to the order of the priesthood, they will be able to go Withm the
veil with the high priest" (Gospel of Philip 85: 1-5).
31 Gospel of Philip 86:1-5.
32
Gospel of Philip 70:5-10.
33 "One will clothe himself in this light sacramentally in the union" (Gospel of
Philip 70:1-5).
34
35 See De Coninck, "Entering God's Presence," pp. 505-521.
But the woman is united to her husband in the bridal chamber. Indeed, those who
have united in the bridal chamber will no longer be separated. Thus Eve separated
from Adam because it was not in the bridal chamber that she united with him. 36
At once, the ritual of the bridal chamber pre-enacts the fmal union of the
Gnostic with his or her light spirit in the eschaton and imitates the union of
the Father and the Mother from which Jesus was bom. 37 Both the ritual and
the eschatological event are called "bridal chamber." There is an unresolved tension between two traditions referring to the eschatological future
and to the present, similar to that between the eschatological approach to
God in Excerpts from Theodotus 38 and the present mystical vision in Excerpts from Theodotus 27. The veil is said to be rent in the future 38 or to be
already rent. 39 The renting of the veil connected to the destruction of "the
house," alludes to the Passion and the destruction of the temple. It signifies
the revelation of the previously hidden mysteries of the holy of holies. 40
The Gospel of Philip explicitly states that there is a difference between the
eschatological event and the present ritual:
Whereas in this world the union is one of husband with wife - a case of strength
complemented by weakness(?)- in the Aeon (eternal sphere), the form of the union is different, although we refer to them by the same names. 41
The effects of the ritual in the present time is an aspect that helps to elucidate the place of Yom Kippur imagery in the ritual of the bridal chamber.
Gnosticism and mysticism both yearn for the same outcome -union with or
vision of God; yet the two are distinct in their conception of this union or
vision. Entering the Pleroma in the bridal chamber means achieving a
vision of God. This entry is not purely eschatological, as in the Epistle to
the Hebrews; it has a ritual pre-enacment, which means that a mystical
vision of God is achieved during the ritual.
That this vision is described with Yom Kippur imagery brings us back
to the central question regarding the impact of Yom Kippur on early
Christianity: Why did the Gospel ofPhilip employ the imagery of the high
priest's entrance to the holy of holies? Even if Valentinians received the
idea from apocalyptic Jewish traditions, as indicated in the first section of
this chapter, an explanation is still needed as to what caused them to accept
36

38
39
40
The veil is not a divine embodiment as in the Valentinian Exposition, nor does it
have a positive protective function as in Excerpts from Theodotus 38; it conceals the true
revelation until it is rent. This probably reflects Heb 10: 19-22.
41
37
237
it. I suggest there are four such reasons. First, the authority of Judaism as
the origin of this tradition may have caused reverence for the tradition. A
second reason- or a hint of it- may be found in those traditional element~
reinforced by the Gospel of Philip: The Valentinian re-ritualization of the'
high priest's entry emphasizes the sexual aspects connected to the holy of
holies.42 Third, the ritual aspect of the high-priestly imagery matches well
a ritual context of practical mysticism with induced ascent to a heavenly
temple. Whoever prefers to use Leviticus 16 over other prooftexts for
mystical encounters with God - Exodus 3, Genesis I 5 or Mark 9 - probably does so, since the rihlal connotations of Leviticus 16 match his own
conceptualization that a vision of God (or the possibility of obtaining esoteric knowledge from God's nearest environment) can be achieved ritually.
Fourth, for the initiated, the secrecy of the holy of holies suitably symbolizes the esotericism of the revelation. The first reason can be linked to the
Jewish origin of the tradition, revered by the Valentinian Christians; the
other three reasons are intrinsic to the sexual, ritual and esoteric connotations of the tradition itself, which suited the Gnostic conception and its
rihlalization.
3. Philonic and Valentinian Mysticism as Merged in

Clement of Alexandria
Salvatore Lilla claimed that the Philonic and the Valentinian usage of Yom
Kippur imagery in the descriptions of the divine vision strongly influenced
Clement of Alexandria's mysticism, especially as formulated in Stromateis 5:6:39:3-40:4 -as did Judith Kovacs more recently and in different
tenns. 43 This interdependence is relevant for the investigation of Yom Kip42 De Coninck has assembled the traditional material behind this conception (some of
which was discussed in the introductory chapter, above, p. 126).
43 S. Lilla, Clement of Alexandria: A Study in Christian Platonism and Gnosticism
(Oxford, 1971 ), pp. 173-181; J.L. KovaCs, "Concealment and Gnostic Exegesis: Clement
of Alexandria's Interpretation of the Tabernacle," Studia Patristica 31 (1997) 414-437.
See also J .E. Davison, "Structural Similarities and Dissimilarities in the Thought of
Clement of Alexandria and the Valentinians," Second Century 3 (1983) 201-217. Other
discussions of this passage can be found in W. VOlker, Der wahre Gnostiker nach Clemens Alexandrinus (Texte und Untersuchungen 57; Berlin, 1952), pp. 403-432; A. Mehat, Etude sur les 'Stromates' de Climent d'Alexandrie (Paris, 1966), pp. 456-475; A. Le
Boulluec (ed., transl.), Clement d'Alexandrie. Les Stromateis. Stromate V. Tome II commentaire, bibliographie et index (SC 279; Paris, 1981 ); A. van den Hoek, Clement of
Alexandria, and His Use of Philo in the Stromateis (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae
3; Leiden, 1988), pp. 116--147.
pur's impact on early Christianity, since it is the high priest's entrance that
connects the ascent visions of all three corpora. I discuss first the
Clementine Stromateis 5:6:39:3-40:4, then Excerpts from Theodotus 27, of
ambivalent Clementine or Valentinian authorship.
3.1 Stromateis 5:6:39:3-40:4
Stromateis 5:6:39:3-40:4 describes the ascent of the Gnostic to the vision

of God in terms of the high priest's entrance to the holy of holies.
So the high priest puts off his consecrated robe (the universe and the creation in the universe were consecrated by him assenting that what was made, was
good), washes himself and puts on the other tunic (a holy-of-holies one, so to
speak), which is to accompany him into the adytum. 4 It seems to me that he exhibits the Levite and Gnostic as the chief of the other priests. Those other priests
are bathed in water and clothed in faith alone, and they expect their own individual
abode.
[The high priest], however, distinguishes the objects of the intellect from the
sensual things. He rises above the other priests and hastens to the entrance to the
intellectual world to wash himself from the things here below, not in water, as formerly one was cleansed on being enrolled in the tribe of Levi, but already by the
Gnostic Word.
40:1 [The high priest] has been purified in his whole heart and thoroughly regulated. He has improved that mode of life, received from the priest, to the highest
pitch. Having been sanctified in both word and life, he puts on the bright array (yO:vrov:a) of glory and receives the ineffable inheritance of that spiritual and perfect
man, "which eye hath not seen and ear hath not heard and which hath not entered
into the heart of man." Having become son and friend, he is now replenished with
insatiable contemplation face to face.
For there is nothing like hearing the Word Himself, who by means of the
Scripture inspires fuller intelligence. 2 For so it is said, "And he shall put off the
linen robe, which he had put on when he entered into the holy place, and shall lay
it aside there and wash his body in water in the holy place and put on his robe"
[Leviticus 16:4].
3 But in one way, as I think, the Lord puts off and puts on by descending into
the sensual region; and in another, he who through Him has believed puts off and
puts on, as the apostle intimated, the consecrated stole. 4 Thence, after the image
of the Lord, the worthiest are chosen from the sacred tribe to be high priests, and
those elected to the kingly office and to prophecy are anointed. 44
5:6:39:3
The passage stands in the context of an allegorical exegesis of Exodus 2628 (the tabernacle, the vestments and the high priest) and is heavily
influenced by Philo, especially Vita Mosis 2:95-135 45 In the relevant
44
I slightly amended the translation from A. Cleveland Coxe (ANF) according to the
Greek in SC 278.
45 Stromateis 5:6:32-40 has been investigated in detail by van den Hoek, Clement of
Alexandria, and His Use of Philo in the Stromateis, pp. 116--147, see especially her table
239
passage 5:6:39:3-40:4, Clement switches his focus from Exodus 26--28 to

Leviticus 16 and "departs entirely from his Philonic Vorlage" toward motifs adopted from Valentinian Gnosticism.46
Clement focuses on the preparations of the high priest, who washes
himself and changes his clothes explicitly quoting the relevant passage in
Leviticus 16:4. The historical high priest represents simultaneously Jesus
and the Gnostic Christian. Jesus is mentioned only once, his entry to the
holy of holies signifYing his incarnation (40:3). The Gnostic clearly dominates the scene. For the Gnostic as high priest, the entrance is not the descent into matter but the mystical ascent to the intellectual world, with the
vision of God as its final goal (40: 1.4). Only for the Gnostic are the details
of the priestly purification ritCs allegorized. The washing represents a special second baptism- not with water (as do the Levites) but with the Logos
(39:4). The donning of a new garment is explained as putting on "the
bright array of glory" (40: I). The former is reminiscent of the Valentinian
distinction between pneumatic and psychic Christians.47 The latter almost
certainly refers to the famous garb of light, which according to the Valentinian form of the Jewish tradition was the purpose of the unification ritual
of the bridal chamber. Yet Clement differs from Valentinian soteriology.
While Clement adopts the V alentinian distinction between a reward for the
psychics and an even higher reward for the Gnostics/pneumatics, he
changes it from two separate categories to two separate stages. According
to him, the psychic can become a Gnostic, which matches Clement's hermeneutics toward Valentinian conceptions in Stromateis 5:6. Adapting
many Gnostic conceptions, he hlrns some of them against their inventors. 48
on p. 118. See also the apparatus of Stahlin's edition and in Sagnard, Clement d'Alexandrie. Ex traits de Thiodote, appendix C; and the commentary of Le Boulluec, Clement
d'A/e:xandrie. Les Stromateis. Stromate V. Tome II (SC 279; Paris, 1981).
46 Kovacs, "Concealment and Gnostic Exegesis," p. 414.
47
Kovacs, "Concealment and Gnostic Exegesis," pp. 419 and 427-430.
48
Like Heracleon, Clement proposes a tripartite sacred geography: the holy of holies,
the holy shrine and the forecourt are connected to Gnostic Christians, psychic Christians
and pagans, respectively. Yet, while Heracleon associated the holy of holies with the
Gnostics, the forecourt is the place of the psychics. Moreover, Clement calls the Gnostic
Christians high priests and Levites, which may be a pejorative pun on the association of
Levites with psychics in Heracleon. See Kovacs, "Concealment and Gnostic Exegesis,"
pp. 428 and 429.
240 The Impact of Yom. Kippur on Christianity in the First and Second Centuries
3.2 Excerpts from Theodotus 27
In a picture closely resembling the one in Stromateis 5:6:39:3-40:4, Excerpts from Theodotus 27, too, employs the high priest's entrance:
The priest (iepeU<;) on entering within the second veil (ciatcl:lv f:v1:0<; wo Ka"t:axeop.ao<; 1:0i.l Oemipou) removed the plate (:Jti1:aAov) at the altar of incense, and
entered in silence (f:v atyfJ) with the Name engraved upon his heart, indicating the
laying aside of the body ( o"ii mOJ.lao<;) which has become pure like the golden
plate and nimble (KoUqlou) through purification ... the laying aside as it were of the
soul's body (o"ii cOOnep aOOJ.ltt"to<; fl<; 'Vl.IXfl<;) on which was stamped the luster of
piety, by which he was recognized by the Principalities and Powers (at<; :o\PXats
Kai at<; 'E~owiat<;) as having put around [him] (xepuceiJ.levo<;) the Name. 2 Now he
discards this body, the plate which had become weightless (<ilktp6<;), within the
second veil, that is, in the rational sphere (v <P vo11<P K6av.cp) the second complete
veil of the universe, at the altar of incense, that is, with the angels who are the
ministers of prayers carried aloft (xap0. -roil<; AettO"tlPrO-i)<; -rOOv O.vacpepoJliVrov itxOOv
AntAot~<;). 3 Now the soul, stripped by the power of him who has knowledge, as if
it had become a body of the power passes into the spiritual sphere (ei<; .a XVI":"UJla."ttKO.) and becomes now truly rational.and high-priestly (AoytKtl <P Ovn Kai &pxtepanKtl), so that it might now be animated, so to speak, directly by the Logos, just as
the archangels became the high;priests (ir.pxtepei<;) of the angels, and the FirstCreated (oi. llpon6KnaTot) the high-priests of the archangels. 4 But how is there
perfection by Scripture and by learning (IIoii 0 en ypacpfl<; Kai v.a6t]aero<; K"t6p9roj.1a) for that soul which has become pure, and how is it granted to see God "face
to face" (npOao:mov npO<; np6crroxov SeOv 6pv)? 5 Thus, having transcended the angelic teaching and the Name taught in Writing, [the soul] comes to the knowledge
and comprehension of the facts. It is no longer a bride but has become a Logos and
rests with the bridegroom together with the First-Called and First-Created (npromK"t:imrov ), who are friends by love, sons by instruction and obedience, and brothers
by community of origin. 6 So that it belonged to the dispensation ("tft<; obcovo11ia<;)
to put around (uptKeio9at) the plate and learn towards knowledge, but it belongs
to Power that man becomes the bearer of God (0 9t0fp6pov), being controlled directly by the Lord and becoming, as it were, his body. 49
27:1
The exact relationship of the passages in the Excerpts and that in the Stromateis is disputed. The crux is whether Excerpts from Theodotus 27
reflects Theodotus or is a gloss by Clement of Alexandria. 50 The "Gnostic"
49
I have slightly changed the translation of Casey, The Excerpta ex Theodoto of

Clement ofAlexandria. Edited with Translation, Introduction and Notes, according to the
Greek in Sagnard, Clement d'Alexandrie. Extraits de Theodote.
50
The latter position was expressed nearly a century ago by 0. Dibelius, "Studien zur
Geschichte der Valentinianer," Zeitschriftftir die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die
Kunde der iilteren Kirche 9 (1908) 230--247, 329-340. The main argument is the
entrance of the soul into the pneumatic sphere. Sagnard, Clement d'Alexandrie. Extraits
de Thodote, p. 11, goes so far as to state that "l'Extrait 27 est tout a fait caracteristique
de Ia maniere de Clement, et peu de fragments pourraient lui etre attribues avec autant de
siirete." Neither Dibelius nor Sagnard were able to take into consideration the texts from
241
terminology does not provide any clue since the terms appear also elsewhere in Clement and since the chronological relationship between the
Stromateis and the Excerpts from Theodotus is unresolvedY Salvatore
Lilla understands Excerpts from Theodotus 27 as quoted from Theodotus
and uses it as evidence for Valentinian influence on Clement. Judith
Kovacs argues that Clement in this chapter discloses to the reader his most
esoteric thoughts, which he still concealed in the Stromateis - in which
case, Excerpts from Theodotus 27 is a further development by Clement
himself. 52
Regardless of the authorship of this passage, the ambivalence of its attribution is in itself a good illustration of the proximity of Clement's
thought to Valentinian theologians like Theodotus. In either case, the close
relationship is obvious. Again, the picture of the high priest entering the
holy of holies is employed to describe the ascent of the Gnostic's soul
through the rational sphere and its guarding powers into the pneumatic
sphere, where he "is granted to see God face to face." Here again, the author focuses on the changing of clothes, yet he uses an otherwise unknown
tradition that the high priest removed the plate with the divine name only
at the altar of incense on entering the holy of holies. 53 The removal of the
plate with God's name 54 indicates the soul putting aside the body. 55 The
altar of incense refers to the place of the ministering angels who carry the
prayers to God. The soul is transformed into a Logos. The terminology for
Nag Hammadi; a revision of their arguments is therefore a desideratum. The remarks in

Procter's dissertation cannot be regarded as advancing the status quaestionis. See
E. Procter, Christian controversy in Alexandria: Clement's polemic against the Basilideans and Valentinians (American University Studies Series VII, Theology and Religion
112; New York, 1995).
51 If Stromateis 5 is earlier than Excerpts from Theodotus, Clement used "Valentinian"
terminology independently of Theodotus. Only if Excerpts from Theodotus is earlier than
Stromateis 5 may Clement have learned the Valentinian terminology from Theodotus.
52
Kovacs, "Concealment and Gnostic Exegesis," p. 433.
53 This motif may reflect acquaintance with priestly traditions: see Bezalel, "Clement
of Alexandria on an Unknown Custom in the Temple Service of the Day of Atonement,"
and Wolfson's note in Casey, The Excerpta ex Theodoto of Clement of Alexandria.
Edited with Translation, Introduction and Notes.

54 The conception that the control over a name is achieved by not pronouncing it is
paradoxical and contradicts the solemn proclamation of the name in Yom Kippur's ritual.
The emphasis is on silence - the name is not uttered but written on the heart.
55 It is unlikely that the material body is intended, since the body is removed in the
spiritual sphere. Lilla, Clement of Alexandria, p. 178, suggests seeing here a reference to
the lower part of the soul, as in Excerpts from Theodotus 64. This position is accepted
also by Kovacs, "Concealment and Gnostic Exegesis," p. 435.
the metamorphosis of the soul into a Logos evokes the ritual of the bridal
chamber.
Thus, having transcended the angelic teaching and the Name taught in Writing,
[the soul] comes to the knowledge and comprehension of the facts. It is no longer
a bride56 but has become a Logos and rests with the bridegroom together with the
First-Called and First-Created, who are friends by love, sons by instruction and
obedience, and brothers by community of origin. 57
27:5
What were the sources of this passage? As with Excerpts from Theodotus 38, chapter 27 also may have been written without the influence of Hebrews but in a similar spirit. 58 The author uses some Philonic categories. 5 9
It is possible that the laying aside of the ne<aAov at this point of the ritual
and the silence reflect the temple ritual. 60 The cluster of motifs comprising
a removal of garments and an angelic metamorphosis is reminiscent of
apocalyptic texts, which employ this cluster in relation to the heavenly
traveler. 61 The metamorphosis of the entering person into a superhuman
being appears also in Philo. 62 Probably, humans have to recover their primordial status in order to be protected from the guards when seeing God.
This Geftihrdungsmotiv is known from apocalyptic ascent visions,
Hekhalot literature and Gnostic texts. 63
56
This formulation does not have to be a polemical pun against the Valentinians, as
Kovacs, "Concealment and Gnostic Exegesis, pp. 436-437, proposes, since every bride
changes her status after having been united with her bridegroom in the bridal chamber
57
Excerpts from Theodotus 27:5.
58
While the opening formulation about the second veil calls to mind Hebrews, the
second veil is known also apart from Hebrews: see Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews.
The rest of the passage does not betray any relationship to the Epistle. In particular, the
central motif of Excerpts from Theodotus 21, the removal of the plate, is Completely
absent from the New Testament writing.
59
The (material) plate, which the high priest removed, represents the body, the place
before the holy of holies the rational sphere; and the altar of incense the angels lifting
prayers aloft.
60
This rite is attested only here. We cannot be sure if it is based on Christian Gnostic
exegetical speculation, on Jewish ritual speculation or on the practice in the temple: see
note 53, above.
61
See C.R.A. Morray-Jones, "Transformational Mysticism in the ApocalypticMerkabah Tradition," Journal of Jewish Studies 43 (1992) 1-31; and cf. M. Mach,
Entwicklungsstadien des jiidischen Engelglaubens in vorrabbinischer Zeit (Texte und
Studien zum antiken Judentum 34; Tiibingen, 1992), chapter 3.4.4.1.
62
See above, pp. 110--112.
63
See e.g. Ascension of Isaiah 9-10, and Himmelfarb's observations on similar
elements in Hekha/ot Rabbati and Hekhalot Zutrati in her paper "Heavenly Ascent and
the Relationship of the Apocalypses and the Hekhalot Literature," Hebrew Union College
Annual 59 (1988) 73-100, here pp. 82-86.
1I
243
Given that Clement wanted to describe the Gnostic's vision of God,

why did he choose to do so with the imagery of the high-priestly entrance?
It cannot be a high regard for his Gnostic source. Nor does he hint at a specific mystic ritual. It may have been the image of a hidden holy of holies
accessible only to the initiated, an image that matches Clement's concept
of different levels of Christians.
Conclusions and Implications

Valentinian theologians of the second century, among them Theodotus,
Heracleon and the writer of the Valentinian Exposition, adopted the motif
of the high priest's entrance into the holy of holies from Jewish apocalyptic
ascent visions to describe the eschatological entrance of Christ and the
pneumatics into the Pleroma. The ritual of the bridal chamber portrayed in
the Gospel of Philip gives in this world a foretaste of the eschatological
entrance. It employs sexual connotations of the Jewish imaginaire of the
holy of holies to depict union with the light. Together with Philo, these
Valentinian conceptions and probably also the ritual of the bridal chamber
influenced Clement of Alexandria's model of the ascent of the Gnostic's
soul to the vision of God.
The imagery of Yom Kippur did not become a fixed tradition in the
Gnostic literature of the second century. Until Clement, various images
and conceptions associated with Yom Kippur continued to inspire thinkers
and reform the tradition. The Valentinians reinforced the apocalyptic motif
of the change of clothes with the idea of the high priest's plate (ne<aAov).
The Gospel of Philip returns to the sexual connotations of the Jewish
imaginaire. The adoption of these extra-biblical traditions and the continuing inspiration by the imaginaire of Yom Kippur implies connections
to Jews or Jewish Christians. Clement, who adopted this imagery from
Gnostic sources into his mysticism, does not develop it further. Apparently, Yom Kippur was less important to him than to Christian Jews and
Valentinian Christians.
l1
.
ii,,
~-
Chapter 6
;;,
Yom Kippur in Jewish Christian Legends

Two Jewish Christian legends are connected to Yom Kippur-' First, James,
the brother of Jesus, is described as behaving every day as if it were a Day
of Atonement. I argue that this legend is understood better against the
background of tensions concerning Jewish Christianity and the observation
of Yom Kippur. Second, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, is said
to have received the annunciation of his son's conception when serving as
high priest in the holy of holies on a Yom Kippur. This legend was used
for calculating the dates of conception and birth of Christ and John. Furthermore, a holiday celebrating this event emerged in the Eastern Church.
As I will show in the chapter on Christian autunm festivals, its readings are
closely related to the Jewish :lnd the Christian imaginaires of Yom
Kippur. 2
Jewish Christian traditions from the second century recognize at least
four legendary leaders who are described in high-priestly terms, although
historically they were definitely not high priests in the temple and some of
them were neither Aaronides nor even Levites. These leaders include: (1)
Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist,' (2) Simeon,' (3) John, the
Beloved Disciple,' and (4) James, the brother of Christ'
1
Here, I have chosen the term "legend" instead of"myth" because we do not know to
what extent the Jewish Christian stories investigated in the current chapter were of
foundational status for Jewish Christians. Zechariah's and James' promotion to high
priesthood became part of mainstream Christian mythology; but this chapter deals with
the Jewish Christian provenance.
2
3
On apocryphal legends linked to Zechariah, see still A. Berendts, Studien uber
Zacharias-Apokryphen und Zacharias-Legenden (Leipzig, 1895).
4
On Simeon (Luke 2:25.34), see S. Porter, "Simeon 3," Anchor Bible Dictionary 6
(1992) 26-28.
5
On John in general, see R.A. Culpepper, John, the Son of Zebedee. The Life of a
Legend (Studies on Personalities of the New Testament; Columbia [S.C.], 1994).
6
On James in general, see J. Painter, Just James. The Brother ofJesus in History and
Tradition (Studies on Personalities of the New Testament; Columbia [S.C.], 1997);
W. Pratscher, Der Herrenbruder Jalrobus und die Jakobustradition (Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments 139; GOttingen, 1983); and idem,
"Jakobus (Herrenbmder)," Rea//exikonfor An/ike und Christentum 18 (1998) 1227-1243;
r.-
245
In a Christian context this is a remarkable anomaly, considering that in

the first centuries there were no Christian priests. Priests (i.e. presbyters)
and high priests (i.e. bishops) served in Christian churches only from the
third century in the West and probably only from the fourth century in the
East 7 Before this, various offices conld be compared to that of priest, but
these comparisons stayed in the realm of metaphor; there was no separate
class of priests. Probably, among the Jewish Christian communities, the
high-priestly title served to endow their leaders with the traditional termino logy of Jewish religious leadership, perhaps with connotations of exceptional powers of intercession and hereditary authority.
The symbol for these aspects of authority and leadership of the high
priests is the lcita,ov (f'l), one of the high-priestly and royal insignia,
which is associated with James and with John. 8 The f'l was a golden plate
with the inscription ~'Holy to the Lord," which was worn on the miter. 9
Biblical and rabbinic traditions ascribe expiating and apotropaic qualities
to the f'l. 10 Epiphanius shows knowledge of a tradition related to Jewish
post-temple conceptions of the plate as having an oracular function - the
ability to distinguish between sinners and the righteous. 11 Leviticus 8:9
eqnates the high-priestly f'X with the 1Tl. The uncut hair of the Nazir is
called 1Tl, too, and this has led some scholars to explain nEtaAov in this
context as referring to the Nazirite tradition. 12 In my opinion, the fact that
the ,rJ was also one of the royal insignia links it to ruling power and
leadership. 13
If Jewish Christian tradition continued to use the Jewish terminology,
designating their leaders as high priests, how did they relate to Yom Kippur, the ritual of the high priest? These traditions can provide us with a
M. Hengel, "Jakobus der Herrenbruder- der erste Papst?" in: idem, Paulus und Jakobus.
Kleine Schriften III (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 141;
TUbingen, 2002; pp. 549-582).
7 B. KOtting, "Die Aufnahme des Begriffs Hiereus' in den christlichen Sprachgebraucb," in: idem, Ecclesia peregrinans. Das Gottesvolk unterwegs. Gesammelte Aufsiitze (MOnsterische Beitrlige zur Theologie 54:1; MUnster i. W., 1988; pp. 356-364),
pp. 352-353, see also note 52, there.
a Epiphanius, Panarion 29:4; Polycrates apud Eusebius, History of the Church
3:31:3; History of the Church 5:24:3.
9 Exod 28:36ff.
10 Exod 28:38; mPesah 7:7; hPesah 71a; mZebah 8:12; mMenah 3:3; bZebah 88b.
11 Epiphanius, De xii gemmis 2:1; the tradition appears in Protevange/ium of
James 5:1; bYebam 60b; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Num 31:17-18.
11: Num 6; Jer 7:29.
13 See G. Mayer "1TJ" in Theologisches WOrterbuch zum Alten Testament 5 (1986)
329~334. In lQSb Rule of Blessings iv:28 the priest wears a lTJ (consecration) for the
holy of holies. In 4Q161 Pesher Isaiah 8-10 iii 20 the messianic king wears a 1n.
glimpse into Jewish Christian ritual, about which evidence is so scant,
especially concerning Yom Kippur. Of the four figures mentioned, only
Zechariah and James are described in passages relating to Yom Kippur.
They will be the topics of the two sections that follow. Two other early
Jewish Christian high priests, Simeon and the apostle John, are briefly
described in an excursus.
1. James, the Permanently Interceding High Priest

Hegesippus' Hypomnemata is the earliest source to describe James, the
brother of Jesus, with strong high-priestly motifs." I suggest it was
Hegesippus who portrayed James behaving every day as if it were Yom
Kippur: he intercedes regularly in the holy of holies, and he observes permanently the prohibitions of Yom Kippur. With this, Hegesippus proposes
an alternative to the singularity of Yom Kippur's afflictions and its highpriestly service. For James, the Christian high priest, the holy of holies is
always accessible and it is always possible for him to offer up prayers in
that location, where God is closest. Consequently, a special Day of
Atonement is unnecessary.
Unfortunately, the original text of Hegesippus has been preserved only
indirectly; the relevant passages appear only in Eusebius' Historia Ecclesiastica and Epiphanius' Panarion. 15 Yet the question of the textual relationship between Hegesippus, Eusebius and Epiphanius has not been
resolved. Did Epiphanius know of Hegesippus only indirectly, via Eusebius, or did he read him directly? Most scholars tend to hold the first
opinion and discard Epiphanius. 16 However, decisive arguments have not
14
Much of this section has been previously published in StOkl Ben Ezra, "Christians'
Celebrating Jewish' Festivals of Autumn." On introductory questions to Hegesippus, see
T. Halton, "Hegesipp," Theologische Realenzyklopiidie 14 (1985) 560-562. Hegesippus'
Hypomnemata are usually dated to around 180. Eusebius claims he is of Jewish origin,
although scholars have called this into question. He may have been a Gentile Christian:
see W. Telfer, "Was Hegesippus a Jew?" Harvard Theological Review 53 (1960) 143153; N. Hyldahl, "Hegesippus Hypomnemata,'' Studid Theologica 14 (1960) 70-113.
Oded Irshai has demonstrated that at least the traditions Hegesippus used betray a Jewish
background: 0. Irshai, "Historical Aspects of the Christian-Jewish Polemic Concerning
the Church of Jerusalem in the Fourth Century (In the Light of Patristic and Rabbinic
Literature)" [in Hebrew with English summary} (2 vols; Ph.D. dissertation; The Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, 1993), vol. l, p. 12.
15
Eusebius, History of the Church 2:23:4-7; Epiphanius, Panarion 29:4; 78:13-14.
16
Admittedly, Epiphanius' greater precision and his use of explicit titles are no
arguments for a direct acquaintance with Hegesippus and may be explained by an attempt
to systematize Eusebius' version.
247
been put forward. Some motifs in Epiphanius' paraphrases are conspicuously close to Jewish traditions and might refer to a direct relationship to
Hegesippus. 17
The descriptions of James' behavior can be divided into two parts, the
high-priestly aspects and the ascetic aspects. The high-priestly aspects
consist of the following motifs: James' garments, his intercession, his presence in the holy of holies and his charismatic rairunaking. Epiphanius
explicitly refers to James as a high priest. May that not have been part of
Hegesippus' account? That it was not unthinkable in the second century to
address a Christian hero as '"high priest" is proven by the Protevange/ium 8, which explicitly calls Zechariah a high priest.
First, Eusebius' statement that James wears only linen and never woolen
garments recalls the instructions for priests in Ezekiel44:17-18. Linen
garments are used by ordinary priests in the daily service and by the high
priest on his entering the holy of holies.
Second, Eusebius relates that James prayed in the sanctuary (tli Ci:yta, 0
va6,) and that he was the only one allowed to enter it. The latter fact
makes it certain that Eusebius had in mind the most restricted area, the
holy of holies 18 In fact, Rnfinus and Jerome, Eusebius' translators into
Latin and Syriac translated the term as "holy of holies." Zabn has suggested that Eusebius' text might in the fourth century have read "-tO. ii:yta
1:&v O:yirov," even if no extant manuscript actually preserved this reading. 19
Third, according to Eusebius, James prayed without cessation on behalf
of his people. The discrepancies of Epiphanius' portrayal from Eusebius'
can be explained as "improvements" by Epiphanius so that his source
would match better the biblical precepts of Yom Kippur. Epiphanius em11 T. Zahn, "BrUder und Yettem Jesu," in: idem, Forschungen zur Geschichte des
neutestamentlichen Kanons und der altkirch/ichen Literatur (Leipzig, 1900; val. 6:2,
pp. 225-372), p. 262; H.J. Lawlor, "The Hypomnemata of Hegesippus," in: idem,
Eusebiana- Essays on the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius (Oxford, 1912, PP- 1-97).
That Epiphanius was dependent on Eusebius is defended by E. Schwartz, "Zu Eusebius
Kirchengeschichte," Zeitschrift for die neutestament/iche Wissenschaft und die Kunde
der tilteren Kirche 4 (1903) 48-66, here p. 50; J. Munck, "Presbyters and Disciples of the
Lord in Papias. Exegetic Comments on Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, III, 39."
Harvard Theological Review 52 (1959) 223-243, here pp. 241-242; Pratscher, Der
Herrenbruder Jakobus und die Jakobustradition, pp. 103-104; F.S. Jones, "The Martyrdom of James in Hegesippus, Clement of Alexandria, and Christian Apocrypha, Including Nag Hammadi: A Study ofTextual Relations," in: D.J. Lull (ed.), Society of Biblical
Literature 1990 Seminar Papers 29 (Atlanta [Ga.], 1990; pp. 322-335).
13 While -rir. Urm and 0 vaO<; usually refer to the temple, they can also have the specific
meaning of holy of holies: see Heb 9:2 or 9:3, depending on which manuscript is chosen;
Josephus, Bellumjudaicum 1:152.
19 Zahn, "BrUder und Yettem Jesu," p. 230.
ploys explicitly the titles "high priest" and "holy of holies," and he quotes
Leviticus 16 in relating that James entered the holy of holies only once a
year. Eusebius' unbiblical "unceasing Yom Kippur" is clearly the lectio
difficilior. But if Hegesippus described James as permanent intercessor in
the holy of holies, James behaved every day, as if it were Yom Kippur.
This is the first indication that Hegesippus polemicized against a special
Day of Atonement.
Fourth, the historiola of James as rainmaker in Epiphanius' account
may point to Jewish traditions about the high priest on Yom Kippur. "And
once, when there was a drought, he raised his hands to the heaven and
prayed, and immediately the heaven gave water."20 This feature is usually
explained as an exposition on Elijah's prayer for rain in !Kings 18:42-45
or James 5:16-18, which certainly may have influenced the choice of
words in Epiphanius. Yet the context of Yom Kippur is reminiscent of a
Babylonian tradition according to which it was one of the high-priestly
tasks on Yom Kippur to pray for the beneficial amount of rain in the coming year. 21 The high priest's skills as institutionalized rainmaker were
challenged by charismatic rainmakers. In the discussion of the highpriestly prayer in the Babylonian Talmud, Rabbi Yosef compares the
power of prayer of a charismatic rainmaker such as Hanina ben Dosa to
that of a high priest's prayer and reaches the conclusion that the prayer of
this charismatic personage is more effective than that of the high priest. I
suggest understanding Epiphanius' historiola of James, the rainmaker, as
alluding to James' high-priestly role and simultaneously to his charismatic
function, which implies polemics against the skiJls of the historical high
priest on Yom Kippur. Epiphanius' account starts with a drought, which
lasted exactly until the moment when James lifted his hands to heaven. If
the Babylonian concept was held also in Palestine in Hegesippus' time (the
second century), then the high priest was responsible for the drought and
James, the charismatic rainmaker, demonstrated his superiority.
Not only the high-priestly aspects but also the ascetic practices of James
recall Yom Kippur, and may perhaps point to a conscious association with
the Day of Atonement, rather than the customary explanations: Nazirite22
20
Epiphanius, Panarion 78:14.

bYoma 53b; bTa'an 24b.
On James as a Nazirite See E. Zuckschwerdt, "Das Naziraat des Herrenbruders
Jakobus nach Hegesipp (Euseb, h.e. II 23,5-6)," Zeitschrift for die neutestamentliche
Wissenschaft und die Kunde der iilteren Kirche 68 (1977) 276--87. Of the three Nazirite
abstinences (alcohol, haircutting and being in the presence of corpses, see Num 6:1-7),
James observed two. Moreover, the fonnulation iK KOli..ia<; 11Tttp0<; airtoU, which is employed regarding Samson, clearly tries to turn James into a Nazirite. Epiphanius reduces
the similarity to the Nazirite tradition by skipping the abstention from wine.
21
22
249
or Rechabite23 traditions. According to Eusebius, James avoided alcohol

from birth, nor did he eat meat; he did not cut his hair, embalm himself, or
frequent a bathhouse. Epiphanius does not mention the abstention from
wine and from anointing, but he adds abstention from sexual intercourse,
from wearing sandals and from wearing a second coat. 24
If we assume that Eusebius and Epiphanius used Hegesippus independently and adopted different but complementary details, we can reconstruct
a list of seven prohibitions: drinking wine, eating meat, haircutting, bathhouse, anointing, wearing sandals or a second coat, and sexual intercourse.25 I find especially telling that Eusebius, Epiphanius and Mishnah
Ta 'anit agree on the mention of keeping away from public bathhouses, a
prohibition that does not fit the Nazirite or the Rechabite traditions. 26 The
last four prohibitions agree with Jewish custom on public mourning days
as described in the Mishnah Ta'anit. 21 To abstain from wine and meat is a
rnle for the eve of Tish'a be'Av 28 However, the closest parallel to the
whole list is the six prescriptions for Yom Kippur: eating, drinking, washing, anointing, wearing sandals and sexual intercourse. 29 If the assumption
is correct that Epiphanius and Eusebius independently copied directly from
Hegesippus, Hegesippus portrayed not only the high-priestly but also the
ascetic aspects of James' behavior as a permanent Yom Kippur. Now we
have to take into consideration the religious situation after the destruction
of the temple. The entrance of the most sacred person into the most sacred
place to intercede in God's presence for humanity's sins had been restricted to the most sacred day, Yom Kippur. Fasting and praying were of
major importance, but they happened also on other days. In this context,
Hegesippus portrays James, the leader of the Jewish Christian faction, as
fasting and interceding Wlceasingly in the most sacred place as if every
day were Yom Kippur. This portrayal spreads the unique sanctity of that
23 On the Rechabite background see the discussion in Irshai, "Historical Aspects of the
Christian-Jewish Polemic Concerning the Church of Jerusalem in the Fourth Century,"
vol. 1, pp. 8-12 and vol. 2, pp. 13-16, notes 67, 68, 71, 83-86).
24 The latter two may also depend on Matt 10:10; however, many of the motifs of
Matt 10 are missing.
2S The following abstineoces are mentioned by both: meat, bathhouse, haircutting.
Only Eusebius mentions wine and anointing, while Epiphanius is the only one to refer to
sandals, second coat and sex.
26 mTa'an 1:6.
T1 mTa'an 1:6; 4:7.
28 mTa'an 4:1.
29 mYoma 8:1, no eating, drinking, washing, anointing, sandals or sexual intercourse.
The frrst two are modified, because total abstinence from food and drink is impossible
even for pennanent ascetics. There is no prohibition against using a public bathhouse,
since washing is forbidden altogether.
day to all days of the year. If James, the Jewish Christian leader par excellence, could, according to Hegesippus, approach God directly every day, a
special Day of Atonement had become superfluous for the followers of
James, i.e. Hegesippus' Jewish Christian contemporaries. By the same
token we can conclude (if our thesis is correct) that some Jewish Christian
groups, those against whom Hegesippus drew his portrayal, did observe
Yom Kippur.
2. Zechariah's Revelation on Yom Kippur

Luke I tells the story about Zechariah, the priest, who on offering incense
in the temple is approached by Gabriel, who announces to him the future
birth of John. If we consider Luke's account as historical, Zechariah's act
was part of the duty of every member of the priestly watches who participated in the temple service; in this case, Zechariah was most probably offering the daily incense offering in the sanctuary, the "holy area" outside
the holy of holies. Suddenly, in the fourth century, simultaneously in many
places and in many languages, a tradition appears about Zechariah, the
high priest, receiving the revelation on entering the holy of holies on Yom
Kippur or Sukkot: 30 in Latin in the anonymous de solstitiis (third or fourth
century?) and Ambrose (d. 397); in Syriac in Ephrem (d. 373); in Greek in
Chrysostom's Christmas Homily from 386. 31 The simultaneous attestation
is so widely dispersed that the tradition must be older than the end of the
fourth century.
30
See above, p. 68, notes 289 and 290 for other authors who considered the two festivals as one, or who confused Sukkot and Yom Kippur. On the same confusion ofSukkot
and Yom Kippur in relation to John's annunciation or conception, cf. e.g. Chrysostom,
Christmas Homily 5 (PG 49:357 C); Pseudo-Chrysostom, In laudem conceplionis sancti
Joannis Baptistae (PG 50:789 A).
31
De solstitiis et aequinoctiis (ed. Botte, pp. 96-98); Ambrose, Commentary on Luke
1:22 (CCSL 14:17, lines 339-346); Ephrem, Commentary on Exodus 12:2-3 (CSCO
152:141); Commentary on the Diatessaron 1:29 (SC 121:61-62); Homily on the Nativity
5:14, 26:12; 27:3.13 (conception of Jesus on 10 April, six months after John); John
Chrysostom, Christmas Homily, PG 49:351-62. The tradition also appears in many other
writings, among them those of the mid-sixth-century traveling businessman who is
known by the name of Cosmas Indicopleustes: Christian Topography 5:9 and 5:37 (SC
159:20-23 and 66-69); and an anonymous commentary on Luke from Jerusalem, which
the editor dates to 400-450, fragment 10, published in J. Reuss (ed.), Lukas-Kommentare
aus der griechischen Kirche. Aus Katenenhandschriften gesammelt und herausgegeben
(Texte und Untersuchungen 130; Berlin, 1984), pp. 23-24.
251
Already in the Protevangelium of James, a Jewish Christian legend of

the mid-second century,32 Zechariah had been promoted to high priest. Yet
the actual scene of the annunciation is only indirectly alluded to: "About
that time [when Mary was working on the temple curtain] Zechariah became mute, and Samuel replaced him, until Zechariah spoke" (10:2). Neither time nor place nor details of the encounter with Gabriel are
specified." Elsewhere in the Protevangelium, the holy of holies is a place
of revelation (8); nevertheless, the annunciation does not have to have
happened on Yom Kippur, since in the Protevangelium, the holy of holies
can be entered every day (as in Hegesippus). 34 Yet from promoting Zecha32
On the Protevangelium, see H. Smid, Protevangelium Jacobi. A Commentary
(Apocrypha Novi Testamenti 1:1; Assen, 1965); E. de Strycker, La forme lap/us ancienne du Protivangile de Jacques. Recherches sur le Papyrus Bodmer 5 avec une edition
critique du texte grec et une traduction annotie. En appendice: Les versions armniennes
traduites en Latin par Hans Quecke (Subsidia Hagiographiica 33; Brussels, 1961);
0. Cullmann, "The Protevangelium of James," in: W. Schneemelcher (ed.), New Testament Apocrypha. Vol I. Gospels and Related Writings (Louisville [Kentucky], 1991;
pp. 421-438); and now also R.F. Hock (ed.), The Infancy Gospels of James and Thomas
with Introduction, Notes, and Original Text featuring the NEW Scholars Version Translation (The Scholars Bible 2; Santa Rosa [Calif.], 1994). I used Tischendorfs division
into chapters and verses as printed in Cullrnann.
On the Jewish Christian provenance, see E. Cothenet, "Protevangile de Jacques: origine, genre et signification d'un premier midrash cbretien sur la Nativite de Marie," in:
W. Haase and H. Temporini (eds.), Aufttieg und Niedergang der ROmischen Welt 2:25:6
(Berlin and New York, 1988; pp. 4252-4269); F. Manns, "Une ancienne tradition sur la
jeunnesse de Marie," in: idem, Essais sur le Judio-Christianisme (Studium Biblicum
Franciscanum Analecta 12; Jerusalem, 1977; pp. 106-114); and S. Lieberman, "The
Temple: Its Lay-Out and Procedure," in: idem, Greek in Jewish Palestine/Hellenism in
Jewish Palestine (New York and Jerusalem, 1994; pp. 164--179). From time to time I will
refer to Jewish para1lels that demonstrate that the Protoevangelium was most probably
written by a Jewish Christian (contra Hock, The Infancy Gospels of James, pp. 9-11).
S. Verhelst, "Le 15 Aollt, le 9 Av et le Kathisme," Questions Liturgiques 82 (2001) 167169, argues for a later date of the Protevangelium.
33
The inner chronology of the Protevangelium is problematic. Joseph is supposed to
have -left Mary at age twelve (8:2; 9:3), but on his return she is already sixteen (12:3).
The last point could be a later addition, as it is unnecessary for the narrative if we assume
that giving birth age 12/13 was considered acceptable in second-century Christianity.
34 For example, Zechariah enters it to receive an oracle about what to do with Mary
(8-9). The holy of holies is also the place of God's presence. Mary is described as having
lived in the holy of holies for nine years being nurtured by an angel: "How could you
lower your soul? Did you forget the Lord, your God, you, who were educated in the holy
of holies (ti..:; tti iiytn -r&v O.yi.rov) and received nurture by the hand of angels? You, who
listened to their hymns and danced before them, what did you do?'' Mary's involvement
in the sanctuary is continued by her participating in sewing the curtain of the temple (I 0)
during which Gabriel announces the conception of Jesus. This close association of Mary
and the teinple probably has two functions. First, the purity of Mary enables her to live in
riah to high priesthood it is only a small conceptual step to placing the annunciation scene in the context of a special ritual of the high priest, i.e.
Yom K.ippur. 35 The fourth-century embellishment may well have circulated
already in second-century Jewish Christian circles, whose members
regarded Zechariah as a high priest. A hint on this may be manuscript S of
the Old Syriac, which improves Luke's laconic statement "to offer the incense in the temple of the Lord" (I :9) to "to bring in the incense" -presuming a movement into a building, which conld be the holy of holies or
the sanctuary. 36
How is it possible to explain the legendary metamorphosis of Luke's
simple account- a priest offering incense in the sanctuary at an unspecified time- to the detailed, sophisticated version- a high priest offering incense in the holy of holies on Yom Kippur? I propose two explanations:
First, a story about a high priest who receives a revelation in the most sacred place on the most sacred day is more interesting than a story about
some priest who enters some place on some date. 37 If legend promotes to
high priesthood the priest who enters the sanctuary and receives a revelation during his incense sacrifice, the likelihood increases that the place and
the ritual will also be promote&. Second, the Jewish imaginaire of Yom
Kippur closely associates the high priest's entrance to the holy of holies
and the incense sacrifice with encounters with angels and with the divine. 38
For people accustomed to thinking in the tradition of the Epistle to the
Hebrews, which places the incense altar in the holy of holies, this shift
the holy of holies and, naturally, the holy of holies protects her purity. Second, the presence of God passes from the holy of holies to Mary. The tradition influenced early Islam
and may therefore be Jewish Christian: see Qur'an, Sura 3:37 (the family of 'Imran). The
tradition of the virgins sewing the temple veil also points to a Jewish Christian provenance, since it appears in 2Baruch 10:19; m$eqal8:5; Pesiqta Rabbati26:6: see Lieberman, "The Temple: Its Lay-Out and Procedure," pp. 167-169.
35
On the various texts dating the revelation of Zechariah to Yom Kippur, see J.F.
Coakley, ''Typology and the Birthday of Christ on 6 January," Orientalia Christiana
Analecta 236 (1988) 247-256; and A. de Halleux, "Le comput ephremien du cycle de Ia
nativit6," in: F. Van Segbroeck, et al. (eds.), The Four Gospels 1992. Festschrift Frans
Neirynck (Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 3; Leuven, 1992;
pp. 2369-2382).
36
Two Western writers, lrenaeus of Lyon (d. after 178) and Victorinus of Poetovio
(d. 304), state that Zechariah brought a sacrifice: see Irenaeus, Against the Heresies 3:10:1, cf 3: ll :8; and Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse 4:4 (SC 423:68;
cf. CSEL 49:50-51).
37
Daniel Schwartz, in an oral communication.
38
See pp. 79-85, 110-112 and 124-127, above.
253
becomes even slighter. 39 Even if the full-fledged tradition appears only in

fourth-century mainstream sources, the Protevangelium strongly suggests
that an early form existed already in Jewish Christianity.
The simultaneous surfacing of the tradition at the end of the fonrth
century in many languages and areas can be explained in light of the promotion of the celebration of Christmas at that time. For computing Christ's
birthday, the references in the account of Jolm the Baptist's birth are indispensable, first and foremost being the armunciation to Zechariah, the only
event that could be assigned to a specific day- the tenth of Tishri. 40 I will
give my translation of the most interesting and probably earliest passage
on Zechariah and Yom Kippur from the anonymous tract de solstitiis et
aequinoctiis conceptionis et nativitatis Domini nostri /esu Christi et Iohannis Baptistae, since the text is not easily available and has not been
translated:
In the times when Zechariah, the father of John, served in the priesthood of the
Jews according to the decree of the law and the ptophecy of Jonah, which proclaimed to the Ninevites the destruction of their city after three days, the Ninevites
had gained mercy from God's action through penitence.41 In memory of this, now,
the Jews observe every year a fast in the month of September, which they
solemnly call Booths42 or Tabernacles. 43 Therefore the priests at that time offered
sacrifices to God for the sins of the people in those days in the month of September according to the law's commandment; therefore, when Zechariah sacrificed at
the altar, he immediately professed that he was not a priest nor worthy [to inter~
cede] with prayers for the sins of so wicked a people. But [Zechariah] remembered
that Christ himself was going to be the only true priest, about whom the father had
said: You are priest in eternity according to the order of Me/chizedek [Ps 110:4],
who alone offers an appeasing sacrifice for the sins of all to God. And Zechariah
prayed for His coming ....44
39 On possible reasons for Hebrews placing the incense altar in the holy of holies, see
Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 234-236; and cf. IKgs 6:22; 2Baruch 6:7.
40 For example, Ephrem writes "From the tenth day of the seventh month, when
Zechariah received the announcement of the birth of John, until the tenth day of the first
month, when Mary received the announcement of the angel, six months passed." Commentary on Exodus 12:2, transl. by J.P. Amar, E.G. Mathews and K. McVey, St. Ephrem
the Syrian. Selected Prose Works. Commentary on Genesis. Commentary on Exodus.
Homily on our Lord. Letter to Pub/ius (Fathers of the Church 91; Washington, D.C.,
1994), pp. 246-247; cf. CSCO 152:141.
41 This is one of the earliest attestations for an association of Jonah with Yom Kippur;
see above, note 219, pp. 55-56 and pp. 57-59.
42 Metel/itum is a transcription of the Aramaic term Nn71t17J I M77t:IZJ.
43 Scaenophegiam is a transcription of the Greek term aKllVOltTJYia.
44 Here follow references to the fulfillment of prayers from Matt 7:9-11; 1John 5:15.
Thus, when Zechariah had prayed for this, the angel Gabriel answered him:
Zechariah, your prayers have been heard Behold, Elizabeth, your wife will bear
you a son, and you will name him John. You will have jay and gladness, and many
will rejoice at his birth, and he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will not
drink wine or strong drink; soon, even before his birth he will be filled with the
Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel toward the Lord their God
and he will go before him [Luke 1:13-17].
The story happened before the first year of Tiberius Caesar [14 CE], in the
month of September, on the eighth Calends of October (24 September], on the
eleventh [day of the] waxing moon [II Tishri], when the Jews have to celebrate
the fast of Tabernacles.
Then, indeed, after the ninth year, Tiberius Caesar [23 CE] computed time and
course of the moon, and this day, the eighth of the Calends of every October, happened to be the equinox, when the night begins to be longer than the daylight. For
he must increase, he said, but I must decrease [John 3:30]. For the light had
become less than the darkness when the Jews, according to the law and the
prophecy, offer God the sacrifices in which John was conceived, in which they
were also accused by the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah says: What to me is the
multitude of your sacrifices? Says the Lord; I have had enough of your burnt
offerings of rams and the fat of calves and goats. [Isaiah 1:11]. For these [offerings] were offered previously for the sins of the people, which already had to
cease when John the Baptist was conceived.
And therefore Zechariah, his father, the priest of the Jews, became mute, since
their sacrifices already then had to cease and "become mute,, which were offered
for the sins of the people. The one and only priest came, who offered a sacrifice to
God for the sins with his own single spotless lamb. And John showed him to the
Jews: Here is the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world [John 1:29].45
The "eleventh (day of the) waxing moon," 1l Tishri, could be understood

as the day after Zechariah finished performing the Yom Kippur service,
returned home, had intercourse with Elizabeth and John was conceived. 46
The high priesthood of Zechariah is explicitly declared to be inferior to the
"only true" high priesthood of Jesus.
The confusion and identification of Sukkot and Yom Kippur occur very
frequently, 47 probably because the two festivals are so close on the calendar and because the construction of booths is more perceptible to the outside observer than prayer assemblies taking place inside synagogues. Here
the date (I 0 Tishri) and the ritual (intercession and sacrifice for atonement,
Jonah, repentance) refer to Yom Kippur. This is not the place to engage in
a discussion of the convoluted provenance of de solstitiis, but its acquaintance with Jewish ritual and the use of a transcription metellitum for the
41
De solstitiis et aequinoctiis (ed. Batte, pp. 96-98).

I will return to the computation and the speculations about the astronomical
constellations in the section on the commemoration day of the annunciation to Zechariah;
see below, pp. 322-328.
47
See above, p. 68, notes 289 and 290, and p. 250, note 30.
46
255
Aramaic Kn'11~~/Kn'??c~ for booths bespeak an author residing in an area

with Aramaic and Jewish influences but with Latin as the language. The
frequency with which Ephrem refers to the computation, his acquaintance
with traditions of the Protevangelium, and the reading of the Old Syriac
point to a generic connection between the Jewish Christian legend and the
Syriac mainstream authors.
The writings of such mainstream authors as Ambrose, Ephrem, Chrysostom, Beda and Ishodad, and the institution of a festival, prove that Zechariah's high priesthood and the annunciation in the holy of holies on Yom
Kippur-Sukk.ot became "faits Iegendaires." I will return to this tradition in
the chapter on Christian autumn festivals, where I analyze the festival that
commemorates the annunciation to Zechariah in the Eastern Church and is
closely related to the Jewish and the Christian imaginaires of Yom Kippur.48
Does the Protevangelium betray any attitude toward Yom Kippur? It
seems not. Unlike in Hegesippus, the aspect of permanent intercession in
the holy of holies is missing, as is the self-affliction. But as in Hegesippus,
the holy of holies is always accessible to the Christian Jewish high priest,
who in the end will be murdered in the sanctuary. Remarkably, the annunciation scene, which the later Christian mainstream tradition depicts as
happening on Yom Kippur, is completely marginalized. If we take into
account the possibility that the Yom Kippur tradition was already circulating in second-century Jewish Christianity, was there a reason to suppress it? Suppression would fit the general tendency of the Protevangelium
to minimize the position of John the Baptist and replace him with Mary.
Excursus: Simeon and John as High Priests
Simeon, another figure from Luke's nativity narrative, is the beneficiary of two promotions. Luke's account provides no evidence that Simeon was a priest or even a Levite.
Yet a few Christian texts call Simeon a priest, 49 most probably because of the close association with the temple in Luke's account (2:25-35). The Protevangelium promotes
48

A search in the TLG 8.0 resulted in, among other sources, Pseudo-Epiphanius, De
prophetarum vita et obitu (recensio prior) (ed. Schen:nan p. 24 line 11 ); Pseudo-Athanasius, Testimonia e scriptura (PG 28:64C); Johannes Damascenus, Sermo in annuntiationem beatae Mariae uirginis (PG 96:652C). The authenticity of the last has been
rejected by J.M. Hoeck, "Stand und Aufgaben der Damaskenos-Forschung," Orientalia
Christiana Periodica 17 (1951) 5-60, here p. 40, note 96. On Simeon in the Vitae Prophetarum, see A. Schwemer, Studien zu den friihjiidischen Prophetenlegenden. Vitae
Prophetarum (2 vols; Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 49 and 50; Ttlbingen, 1995,
1996), vol. 2, pp. 326-327. On the Vitae Prophetarum as Christian composition, see
D. Satran, Biblical Prophets in Byzantine Palestine. Reassessing the Lives of the
Prophets (Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha 11; Leiden, 1995).
49
Simeon further, to high priesthood (24). He becomes the successor of the murdered Zechariah. This did not become part of general Christian lore; the only other text known to me
that calls Simeon a high priest is the Latin version A of the Descent to HelL A second
Simeon, the son of Clopas is traditionally seen as the successor of James as bishop of Jerusalem. While I could not fmd any explicit mention of Simeon Clopas as (high) priest, it
is possible that he was not always sharply distinguished from the Simeon who held Jesus
as a baby in his hands. 50 Tradition closely links three Christian (high) priestly figures:
Zechariah, Simeon and James. 5 1 This becomes most evident through the discovery of
their common tomb on the Mount of Olives in the year 351 by a hermit, Epiphanius.s2 In
any case, in the plot of the Protevange/ium, having two successive Christian Jews in the
high priesthood reinforces the Christian claim to the temple as a place of God's presence.
The last of the figures to be examined is John, the Beloved Disciple. He is different,
in that his high priesthood did not become a "fait tegendaire" as did the high priesthood
of Zechariah or James or even Simeon. Very few sources refer to him in high-priestly
terms. 5 3 The earliest such source is a letter by Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus and fervent
leader of the Quartadeciman faction, to Victor of Rome written around 190 CE, preserved
in Eusebius: " ... John, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and who was a priest
wearing the sacerdotal plate (xhalov), was both a witness and a teacher. .. " 54
While Polycrates uses the term h:pciJ<; (priest) and not O:p;tisp&iJc; (high priest), the
xS-caAov clearly designates John as a high priest. Consequently, Rufinus translates the
first passage with sacerdos (priest) and the second with summus sacerdos (high priest). 55
The only other attestation I have heard of, and this only indirectly, is the colophon of a
Paris manuscript of Hippolytus "Odes on All the Scriptures," mentioned by Robert
Eisler. 56
How could John have become a high priest? There are at least two possibilities: family relations with the "high priests" Jesus and James,5 7 or his exceptional rank by virtue
of being the last surviving apostle. As noted earlier, the xf:taAov may well have been perceived as a symbol of power of the highest rank. There can be no doubt that Polycrates'
reason for including this tradition in his letter to Victor was to enhance his own position
regarding the celebration of Easter on 14 Nisan. One could paraphrase his argument thus:
"I observe the same liturgical custom as Polycarp and as John, who was the bearer of the
1ti:-cal.ov." And one could add: "And he, the chief priest, should know when to celebrate
50
Possibly, Hegesippus considers Simeon Clopas to be a high priest. Eusebius writes
that the attempt to save James was undertaken by a Rechabite priest. Instead of these
corrupt lines, Epiphanius writes Simeon Clopas.
5 1 E.g. all of them are called ''just."
52
See F.-M. Abel, "La sepulture de saint Jacques le Mineur,'' Revue Bib/ique 16
(1919) 480-499. But see also S. Verhelst, "L'apocalypse de Zacharie, Simeon et Jacques,'' Revue Biblique 105 (1998) 81-104.
53
See Zahn, "BrOder und Yettem Jesu," pp. 209-213.
54
Polycrates apud Eusebius, History ofthe Church 3:31:3; 5:24:3.
55
Jerome quotes Polycrates usingpontifex (priest): De viris inlustribus 45 (Texte und
Untersuchungen 14:29 [Ernest Cushing Richardson, 1896]).
56
"Odes on All the Scriptures" in Paris Codex Coislin. 195, according to Robert
Eisler, The Enigma of the Fourth Gospel (London, 1938), p. 55.
57
According to one tradition Salome, John's mother, was Mary's sister, and John and
Jesus were in fact cousins: see Zahn, "BrOder und Yettem Jesu," pp. 340---341.
257
festivals." The information about John is, after all, much more sketchy than our sources
about Zechariah and James, and all conclusions about his high priesthood are subject to
this sketchiness.
Conclusion
Hegesippus' portrayal that the holy of holies was always accessible and
that James practiced ascetic behavior as if every day were Yom Kippur
makes a Day of Atonement obsolete, especially if the temple ritual is no
longer performed. Instead, Hegesippus promotes the practice of fasting and
praying every day. Perhaps we have to understand even the mishnaic assertion that it is the Day of Yom Kippur that atones as a reaction to similar arguments. 58 The Mishnah would have countered Hegesippus by maintaining
that Yom Kippur is not obsolete, since it was never the priestly ritual that
achieved the atonement but the special day. At some point between the
second and fourth centuries, Zechariah becomes a high priest entering the
holy of holies on Yom Kippur for all these reasons: the story's appeal, the
traditional association of the entrance into the holy of holies on Yom Kippur with revelation, and the suitability of Yom Kippur as the date for the
computation of Christmas.
58
mYoma 8:8-9.
Part Three
The Impact ofYom Kippur

I
l
II.
1l
Chapter 7
Christian Exegesis of Leviticus and the Polemics against

the Contemporary Yom Kippur
Over the centuries the biblical Yom Kippnr imagery from Leviticus acquired increasing importance for Chtistian sages. In first-century Chtistian
Judaism, it was only for the community of Hebrews and some other Christian Jews that Jesus was a high priest entering the holy of holies - by the
third century, Jesus is the heavenly high priest for almost every Christian.
Not only Jesus but even a bishop who celebrated the Eucharist could be
described as a high priest upon entering the holy of holies of his church.
Moreover, while the New Testament calls Jesus a scapegoat in allusive
terms, in fifth-century Christianity the scapegoat has become a common
image explicitly used to explain the atoning function of Chtist's death.
This impact was mainly "bookish" or "biblical" via the inclusion of Leviticus, Hebrews and Romans into the Christian canon. Yet even if the main
impact of Yom Kippnr derived from its biblical version, we still have to
ask why it was this imagery that became so attractive.
I claim that Yom Kippnr as observed by Jewish contemporaries of the
Church Fathers contributed to the increasing use of the Yom Kippur imagery by Christians. To address this point, the chapter opens with a brief
presentation of some aspects of Christian exegeses of Leviticus 16, focusing on the writings of the first and most inte:resting commentator, Origen.
It also reflects on the increase in the use of terms relating to institutions
central to Yom Kippnr (holy of holies, high priest, kapporet) in Christian
litnrgical terminology- what Steven Fine calls "templization" (section 1). 1
The three sections that follow analyze the challenge posed to Christianity
and its claim regarding the exclusivity of Christ's once-and-for-all Day of
Atonement sacrifice by the continuing observance of Yom Kippur. I begin
with a description of the evidence for Christian participation in the Jewish

fast, which caused considerable tension in Caesarea and Antioch. I maintain that Origen wrote his exegesis of Leviticus 16 and 23 as an attempt to
keep these Christians from fasting on Yom Kippnr (section 2). I then ana1 For the term and its ramifications in late antique Judaism, see Fine, This Holy
Place, pp. 41-59, 79-94, 132-156.
262 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the Third to the Fifth Centuries
Christian Exegesis of Leviticus and the Polemics against Yom Kippur
lyze the evidence provided by those authors who polemically describe contemporary Yom Kippur rites, some even as firsthand witnesses, which
testifies against an exclusively "bookish" relationship to Yom Kippur. That
many of these descriptions appear in Christian tracts on fasting may be
seen as further evidence for Christian attempts to keep fellow Christians
from joining the "fast of the Jews" (section 3). Finally, I address the other
side of the coin, discussing Jewish polemics in Yom Kippur-related texts
in opposition to the Christian concept of atonement (section 4).
263
b) Eusebius of Emesa (d. ca. 359) wrote a selective commentary in

Greek preserved in an Armenian translation. 6 He is'the only exegete
of Leviticus who did not comment on chapters 16 or 23. 7
c) Augustine (354-430) wrote two works on the Heptateuch, Quaestiones and Locutiones, which explain difficult passages. Within this
framework he also dealt with Leviticus. 8
d) Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444) wrote the G/aphyra, a selective commentary on the Pentateuch (before 423). Another spiritual commentary on Yom Kippur is extant in sections of his On the Adoration and
Worship of God in Spirit and in Truth (around 415). 9
e) A presbyter, Hesychius of Jerusalem, wrote an extensive verse-byverse commentary (430-450) translated into Latin by an anonymous
translator (probably of the sixth century). 10 This is the only exegetical tract covering exclusively Leviticus, and the only extant early
Christian commentary on Leviticus verse by verse.
f) Theodore! of Cyrus" wrote Questions on the Octateuch (after 453).
1. Christian Exegesis of Leviticus and
the Templization of the Liturgy

Quite surprisingly, Greek and Latin as well as Syriac and Armenian material on Leviticus, and specifically on Yom Kippur, abounds. Leviticus, particularly those chapters dealing with sacrifices, is commonly regarded as
the book least known among Christians at all times. Symptomatic of this
neglect is the "Biblica" index of the (otherwise extremely helpful) C/avis
Patrum Graecorum, which lists not a single exegetical tract for Leviticus2
-though there are as many exegetical tracts dealing with Leviticus as with
Hebrews, namely seven (originally written in Greek and dating back to before 500 CE). 3 When counted together with Latin, Syriac and Armenian
works there are many more. The following is to my knowledge the most
complete list of early Christian exegetes dealing with Leviticus as a whole
book (i.e. without homilies covering single chapters):
classic by N. de Lange, Origen and the Jews (Cambridge [UK], 1975). Nevertheless, de
Lange does not refer to the exegesis of Lev 16.
6 Vahan Hovhannesian, Eusebe d'Emse, 1. Commentaire de l'Octateuque (Venice,
1980); yet the commentary on Leviticus fills only ten pages, 125-134.
1 B. ter Haar Romeny suggests that Eusebius' opposition to allegory might explain
his lack of interest in the sacrificial passages: see his "Early Antiochene Commentaries
on Exodus," in: E.A. Livingstone (ed.), Studia Patristica 30 (Leuven, 1997; pp. 114ll9),herep.117.
3 Augustine, Quaestionum in Heptateuchum fiber tertius (CCSL 33:175-233), here
pp. 211-214; Locutionum in Heptateuchum fiber tertius (CCSL 33:424-431), here
p. 428.
9 Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyrorum in Leviticum tiber (PG 69:539-590); On the Adoration and Worship of God in Spirit and in Truth (PG 68:133-1125), here pp. IIOS1108. On Cyril, his exegesis and Judaism, seeR. Wilken, Judaism and the Early Christian Mind. A Study of Cyril of Alexandria's Exegesis and Theology (New Haven [Conn.]
and London, 1971), especially pages 39--68. On the Glaphyra and On the Adoration and
Worship of God in Spirit and in Truth, see ibidem, pp. 69-92.
10 Hesychius, Commentary on Leviticus (PG 93:787-1180). SeeS. Tampellini, "Introduzione allo studio del Commentarius in Leviticurn di Esichio di Gerusalemme," (Ph.D.
dissertation; Bologna, 1998); and his preliminary survey, "L'esegesi del Levitico di Esichio di Gerusalemme. Osservazioni introduttive e sondaggi preliminari," Annali di storia
de!l'esegesi 13/1 (1996) 201-209. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Stefano
Tampellini for providing me with a copy of his dissertation.
11 Lived ca. 393-466, mainly in Cyrus, a small town close to Antioch. See C. T.
McCollough, "Theodoret of Cyrus as Biblical Interpreter and the Presence of Judaism in
the Later Roman Empire," Studio Patristica 18 (1983) 327-334. On Theodoret's exegesis, see J.-N. Guinot, L 'exegese de Theodoret de Cyr (Theologie historique, 100; Paris:
Beauchesne 1995), especially pp. 771-75. Greek edition by Ferm\ndez Marcos and
Saenz-Badillos, Theodoreti Cyrensis Quaestiones in Octateuchum.
a) Around 240 CE Origen4 wrote a set of homilies preserved in Rufinus'

Latin translation. Homilies 9 and I 0 deal with Yom Kippur-'
2 M. Geerard and F. Glorie (eds.), Clavis Patrum Graecorum. Volumen V. Indices, Initio, Concodantiae (Corpus Christianorum Tumhout, 1987), p. 118. This. fact does not
detract from the praiseworthiness of this erudite work of scholarship; it merely demonstrates the lack of Christian interest in Leviticus.
3 Geerard and Glorie, Clavis Patrum Graecorum, vol. 5, pp. 146-147, lists seven
(Origen, Theodore.ofMopsuestia, Severns ofGabala, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Gennadius and Theororet of Cyrus). Almost all of them are extant only in fragments.
4
Lived ca. 185-254 in Alexandria and Caesarea, writing his homilies from Caesarea.
5 W.A. Baehrens, Origenes Werke, sechster Band: Homilien zum Hexateuch in Rujins
Obersetzung. Erster Teil: Die Homilien zu Genesis, Exodus und Leviticus (GCS 29 [Origenes 6]; Leipzig, 1920); on Yom Kippur, see pp. 417-445. The French translation and
the notes by Marcel Borret in SC 286 and 287 (Paris, 1981) are very helpful. I quote from
the English translation by G.W. Barkley, Origen. Homily on Leviticus 1-16 (The Fathers
of the Church 83; Washington D.C., 1990). On Origen and the Jews in general, see the
',,~
'
'
'
t~
il
g) Cyprian, ''the Poet" of Gaul (early fifth century) wrote some lines on
Leviticus 16 in his poetic retelling of the Heptateuch 12
h) A selective commentary in Syriac exists under the name of Ephrem.'3
i) Questions on the Old Testament are ascribed to Isidore of Seville
(ca. 560-636). 14
j) Paterius excerpted writings of Gregory the Great in his De Expositione Veteris ac Novi Testamenti. 15
k) Ishodad of Merv (ninth centnry) compiled a commentary from previous exegeses of Leviticus. 16 In his chapter on Leviticus 16 he quotes
Narsai (d. ca. 503), John of Beth Rabban (d. 567), Abraham of Beth
Rabban (d. after 567), Michael (sixth to seventh centuries) and
Daniel bar Tubanita (seventh century)." Of these, John wrote a
commentary, Michael Questions, and the others most probably
Memre.
12
Cyprianus Gallus, Heptateuchos (CSEL 23:1 p. 104-115 [R. Peiper 1891])..

P. Benedictus (ed.), Sancti Patris Nostri Ephraem Syri Opera Omnia quae exstant
Graece, Syriace, Latine, in sex tomos distributa ad MSS. Codices Vaticanos, aliosque
castigata, muftis aucta, interpretatione, praefationibus, no/is, variantihus lectionibus
illustrata Nunc primum sub Auspiciis Clementis XII. Pontificis Maximi e Bibliotheca
Vaticana Prodeunt. Tomus Primus Syriace et Latine (Rome, 1737); on Lev 16, see vol. 1,
pp. 244-245. A further commentary, extant in Armenian, is also attributed to Ephrem:
see E.G. Mathews (ed., trans!.), The Armenian Commentaries on Exodus-Deuteronomy
Attributed to Ephrem the Syrian (CSCO 587:83-123, 588:67-93; Scriptores Armeniaci
25-26; Louvain, 1998). The editor dates the translation to around 1100 CE: see idem, The
Armenian Commentary on Genesis Attributed to Ephrem the Syrian (CSCO 572;
Scriptores Armeniaci 23; Louvain, 1998), pp. l-li.
14
Ps(?)-Isidore, Quaestiones de ueteri et nouo Testamento. On Leviticus, see PL 83,
pp. 321-340. On Yom Kippur, see PL 83:333-334. Its authenticity bas been questioned
by B. Altaner, "Der Stand der Isidorforscbung," in: Miscellanea lsidoriana (Rome, 1936)
(non vidi), cf. E. Dekkers and A. Gaar, C/avis Patrum Latinorum (CCSL; Steenbrug,
3
1995), pp. 398 and 402, number 1194.
15
On Leviticus, see PL 79:753-762.
16
Ishodad of Merv's commentary on Leviticus has been edited and translated by
Ceslas Van den Eynde as Commentaire d'!Sodad de Merv sur /'Ancien Testament. II.
Exode- Deutironome (Text: CSCO 176 "" Scriptores Syri 80; Translation: CSCO 179 ""
Scriptores Syri 81; Louvain: Peeters 1958). I would like to express my gratitude to
Clemens Leonhard for drawing my attention to this important collation of earlier commentaries.
17
On the identity of the authors and their period, see the introduction of van den
Eynde, Commentaire d'Iso'dad de Merv sur !'Ancien Testament. II. Exode-Deutironome
[translation] (CSCO 179, Scriptores Syri 81; Louvain, 1958), pp. vii-xi.
13
265
k) Theodore bar Koni (end of eighth century) compiled older interpretations of Leviticus, too; yet his Yom Kippur traditions are anonymous.18
Other ancient writings on Leviticus are lost. We know of the following
commentators: 19
l) Victorinus ofPettau (d. ca. 304).
m)Diodorus of Tarsus (d. before 394).
n) Apollinaris of Laodicea (d. ca. 390).
o) Theodore of Mopsuestia (d. 428) possibly wrote a commentary on
Leviticus.
p) Some fragments of lost Greek commentaries survived in the Catenae,
first assembled by Procope of Gaza (d. 538).
The earliest and most important tracts on Leviticus by Origen and Hesychius were written in Palestine and many others in Syriac-speaking areas
with large Jewish populations. Many commentaries emerged in the first
half of the fifth centnry, the golden era of exegetes among them those by
Cyril of Alexandria, Hesychius, Rufmus (translation of Origen), perhaps
Theodore of Mopsuestia, and shortly afterward also Theodore!.
The interpretations of Leviticus 16 and 23 proceed gene~ly along
Hebrews' high-priestly typology/0 and in general, the status of h1gh pnest
became one of the standard attributes ofChrist.21 Origen, the first Christian
exegete of Leviticus explicitly justifies his exegesis in terms of the
18 Theodore bar Koni, Scholia Mimra 3:43. See Hespel and Draguet (CSCO 431, 432;
Scriptores Syri 187, 188), pp 169-173.
,
19 Compare R. Devreesse, Les anciens commentateurs grecs de l Octateuque et des
Rois (Studi e Testi 201; Vatican City, 1959), passim; and idem, "'Anciens commentateurs
grecs de l'Octateuque," Revue biblique 44-45 (1935-1936) 16~191, 201-2~0, 364-38~.
20 M.A. Signer, "Fleisch und Geist. Opfer und VersOhnung m den exe~ettsch~~ !radttionen von Judentum Wld Christentum," in: H. Heinz (ed.), Vers6hnung m der JUdlschen
und christlichen Liturgie (Freiburg i.Br., Basel and Vienna, 1990; PP 197-219). On
Christian exegesis of Leviticus, see also the studies in Annali di storia .dell'esegesi 13/1;
G. Rouwhorst "Leviticus 12-15 in Early Christianity," in: M. Poorthuts and J. Schwartz
(eds.), Purity 'and Holiness (Jewish and Christian Perspectives Seri~s 2~ Leid~n.' 2000~
pp. 181-193); Tampellini, "Introduzione alto studio del Commentanus m Levtttcum dt
Esichio di Gerusalemrne"; R. Wilken, "Origen's Homily on Leviticus and Vayikra Robbah," in: G. Dorival and A. le Boulluec (eds.), Origeniana Sexta. Orig~ne et !a B!ble I
Origen and the Bible. Actes du Colloquium Origenianum Sextum C:ha~ttliy, 30 aout- 3
septembre 1993 (Bibliotbeca Epheme?dum TJ:teologi_c~ L~vanten~t~m 118; ~~ve~,,
1995; pp. 81-91); R.J. Daly, "Sacrifictal Sotenology m Ongen s Homthes on Levtttcus,
in: E.A. Livingstone (ed.), Studio Patristica 17:2 (Oxford, 1982; pp. 872-878).
.
1:1 A monograph on the high priest in Christianity is a desideratum. A good overvtew
of the high priest in late antique Christology can be found in G. ScbOllgen and F.-L.
Hossfeld, "Hoherpriester," Reallexikon for Antike und Christentum 16 (1994) 4-58,
columns 25-37 (by ScbOllgen).
267
a Christological interpretation, with each goat representing one of Christ's

natures. 31
The scapegoat becaroe very appealing to Christian theologians. It appears in almost all works that interpret only selected parts of Leviticus,
such as the Quaestiones on Leviticus. 32 Also, in tracts that do not specifically deal with Leviticus the scapegoat typology appears frequently, as in
such authors as Ambrose, Jerome, the anonymous commentator on Mark,
Cyril of Alexandria and Theodoret. 33 Additionally, distinct tracts are
dedicated to the scapegoat, aroong them Jacob of Sarug's Homily on the
Scapegoat (d. 521). 34
What is the reason for this appeal, considering that the scapegoat is only
implicitly typologized in the New Testament? One might have thought that
the exegetes built on the implicit New Testament allusions (Galatians 3:13;
Matthew 27:15-23) or on the proto-typology behind Barnabas 7. 35 Origen's Christological typology is in fact based on the Barabbas episode, but
Matthew 27 cannot be his source, since he uses all four Gospels and his
reading is rather an eisegesis than an exegesis. The proto-typology of
Barnabas might have served as a model, especially since Barnabas had
quasi-canonical status in some circles. Yet despite its use by Justin, Tertullian and Hippolytns, the proto-typology does not appear io later exegeses36 A possible explanation may be the halakhic traditions upon which
"Pauline" Epistle to the Hebrews as his hermeneutical key to Yom Kippur.22 Origen also uses other New Testament texts- such as Romans 3:25
and IJohn 2:1-2 - as interpreting key texts.23 Among the passages discussed in chapter 4 (on the Christian imaginaire), these two are quite explicit about their connection to Leviticus 16. Where no explicit New Testament typology exists, Origen works analogically to Hebrews, with Christ
as key for interpretiog texts typologically. Thus almost all features of
Leviticus 16 are typologized: not only the high priest, but also the calf, the
ram, both goats, the kapporet and the "prepared man" are interpreted
Christo logically. 24
Origen gives many interpretations of the scapegoat. He connects a
Christological scapegoat typology to the Barabbas episode; 25 a second typology is associated with the two crucified criminals; 26 a third, an allegory
based on Philo, explains the goats as evil versus good thoughts/7 and a
fourth and fifth see in the goats symbols of evildoers versus good people
and sinners versus repentants. 28 All of Origen's interpretations have in
common that they are "bipolar" - the scapegoat represents something bad,
the sacrificial goat something good. Similar models are found in Augustine
and Pseudo(?)-Isidor19 Emperor Julian goes a step further and explains
that the scapegoat is a chthonic sacrifice belonging to the chthonic deities.30 Yet the Greek exegetes of the fifth century and the extant Syriac
exegetes strongly oppose this line of exegesis as polytheistic and promote
3! Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyrorum in Leviticum liber (PG 69:580A-589B); Ep. 41

ad Acacium Scythopoli (ed. Schwartz, vol. 1:1:4, p. 40-48; cf. PG 77:201C-221A); Contra Julianum IX (PG 76:960A-970A); Homilies on Luke 53 (ed. Chabot, p. 191; transL
Tonneau [CSCO 140], p. 129). Theodore!:, Eranistes, (ed. G. Ettlinger, 208:26-211 :32;
cf. PG 83:249D-256B); Quaestiones in Leviticum 22 (ed. Fernandez Marcos and S<lenzBadillos, 172:23-175:18 [cf. PG 80:328A-329D]); Hesychius, Commentary on Leviticus
V (PG 93:989-1002); and Jacob ofSarug, Homily on the Scapegoat, (ed. Bedjan, vol. 3,
pp. 264-266).
32 E.g. Augustine, Quaestionum in Heptateuchum liber tertius 55 (CCSL33, p. 213,
lines 1359-1372), Locutionum in Heptateuchum liber tertiuS 41 (CCSL 33, p. 428, lines
191-194); Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyrorum in Leviticus liber (PG 69:580A-589B);
Theodoret, Quaestiones in Leviticum 22, ed. Fernandez Marcos-Saenz~Badillos, 172:23175:18; Pseudo~Ephrem, Commentary on Leviticus, ed. Benedictus, vol. 1, p. 244-245.
33 Ambrose, Letter 3:13-14 (CSEL 82:1:25-26); Jerome, Dialogus Adversus Pelagianos 1:35:78-91 (CSEL 80:43-45); Ps-Jerome, Commentary on Mark 15:11 (CCSL
82:71); Cyril of Alexandria, Homilies on Luke 53 (ed. Chabot, p. 191; transl. Tonneau
[CSCO 140], p. 129); and Theodoret, Eranistes, ed. Ettlinger, 208:26-211:32. Among
many other places, see also the index to the letters by Severns of Gabala in PO.
14 Ed. Bedjan, vol. 3, pp. 259-282.
3S For an analysis of these passages, see pp. 147-179, above.
36 Some traces of the proto-typology may have survived in Cyril of Alexandria, who
describes: "'Two goats, beautiful (x:akoi) and equal in height (iaoJleyf:&ev;;) and strength
(im'jA 1x:e<;) and of the same color (0J.I6:x:pooi)" (my translation of Glaphyrorum in Leviti-
22
Yet in the time of Origen, Hebrews still had a highly controversial status. Might it
have been the suitability of Hebrews in Christianizing the sacrificial prescriptions of Leviticus that fostered Origen's use of it? It may be no mere coincidence that Origen is the
first to extensively interpret Leviticus and use the sacrificial statements of Hebrews. A
glance into the Biblia Patristica reveals that Origen used the ninth chapter of Hebrews in
works older than the Homily on Leviticus, e.g. the Commentary on John, On Prayer and
Exhortation to Martyrdom. The use of Heb 9, however, abounds in the ninth and tenth
Homilies on Leviticus; and Origen, via his exegesis of Leviticus, may have promoted
acceptance of the only New Testament writing with an explicitly sacrificial theology: see
J. Allenbach et al., Biblia Patristica. Index des citations et allusions bibliques dans la
littirature patristique (1 vols; Paris, 1975-).
23
Rom 3:25 and llohn 2:1-2 appear e.g. in Homily on Leviticus 9:5:8 (SC 287:94).
24
See e.g. Hesychius, Commentary on Leviticus (PG 93: 1001A).
25
Homily on Leviticus 10:2:2 (SC 287:134).
26
27
28
Homily on Leviticus 9:4:3 (SC 287:84) and 9:3:3 (SC 287:82).
29
Augustine, Quaestionum in Heptateuchum liber tertius 55 (CCSL 33:213, lines
1359-1372); Pseudo(?Hsidore, Quaestiones in Leviticum 15 (PL 83:333-334).
30
Julian, Against the Galileans 299A-305B transl. by W.C. Wright. The Works of the
Emperor Julian. With an English Translation (LCL Julian 3; London and Cambridge
[Mass.], 1961; pp. 319-427), here pp. 404-405.
the typology is based. Typologiziog the red ribbon implicitly ascribes
validity to the Jewish Halakhab. Perhaps this is the reason for Ishodad's
polemics against exegetes who tell of the red ribbon. 37 Jewish exegesis
may be involved in the rejection of the proto-typology, since Ishodad links
the red ribbon to Isaiah I: 18, an association that appears in rabbinic
sources but not in Barnabas. 38 In sum, the easiest explanation for the
emergence and popularity of the scapegoat typology is the necessity to
Christianize Leviticus 16, together with the rest of the Old Testament. This
is one reason, but it cannot be the only reason, since the scapegoat
typology appears also in texts unconnected to Leviticus 16. I have argued
elsewhere, that the scapegoat was particularly well suited to promote to
pagans the idea of Christ's vicarious atonement, since for them, the
rationale of the scapegoat was similar to that of their localpharmakos. 39
Nevertheless, the mythologization of the Yom Kippur ritual in the story
of Christ's atoning self-sacrifice was insufficient to keep the new religion
going. People who ascribed an atoning effect to this death by undergoing
baptism continued to sin after Christ's death and therefore needed further
frequent means of atonement. The need to address this problem is seen in
passages of the Christian exegeses of Leviticus 16 that speak about the individual Christian. The individual sinner requires some form of connection
from the saviog event of the past to his life io the present, a link providing
the possibility to expiate his sins, to propitiate the divine wrath or to avoid
punishment for transgressions. This can take different forms. Origen suggests atonement via a psychological cleansing, confession of sins, a radical
change toward an ascetic lifestyle, good deeds, martyrdom and attendance
at Christian rituals 40 The individual could imitate the high priest by expelling his/her bad thoughts; he/she could imitate Christ's self-sacrifice in
martyrdom, which for Origen has a vicarious atoning effect for the community; he/she could give alms pr fast. In any case, presence was necessary in the worship. 41 Origen equates attendance at Christian communal
cum liber, PG 69:588A). Alternatively, this might hint at Cyril's direct contact with a
Jewish exegetical tradition. The tradition about the red ribbon appears in Ishodad, Commentary on Leviticus 16 (CSCO 176:104, lines 11-15); and in Pseudo-Ephrem, Commentary on Leviticus 3 (CSCO 587:118-119; 588:89-90). Both texts refer to Mic 7:19, a
passage read in the synagogue on Yom Kippur: see above p. 56.
37 Ishodad, Commentary on Leviticus 16 (CSCO 176:104, lines 11-15).
38 See above, pp. 130--131. Pseudo-Ephrem mentions also Isa 1:18-19.
39 On the pharmakos, see above pp. 171-173; and more fully StOkl, "The Christian
Exegesis of the Scapegoat between Jews and Pagans."
4<1 Homily on Leviticus 9:8:5 (SC 287:108-112); 9:9:4 (SC 287:114-118).
41 For the vicarious atoning effect of martyrdom, see Origen, Exhortation to Martyrdom 30:16; for attendance at worship, see Homily on Leviticus 9:5:9 (SC 287:94--96).
269
prayer with participation in the high priest's intercessionary prayer by the

people who wait for his exit from the holy ofholies. 42 While this is not yet
a full-fledged sacrificial view of the Eucharist, Origen provides the first
hint that Christian worship is beginning to take over the atoning function
of Yom Kippur. In the words of Robert Daly: "It is true that numerous
texts can be made good sense of only on the supposition that Origen conceived of the Christian liturgy as sacrificial. Be that as it may, the important point to remember is that when Origen thought of Christian sacrifice,
foremost in his consciousness was apparently not a liturgical rite of the
Church, but rather that interior liturgy of the Christian heart and spirit by
which a man offered himself and all his prayers, works and thoughts
through Jesus Christ to God the Father.'"'' Phenomenologically, the frequent partaking of the Eucharist is the exact opposite of a fast observed
once a year.
The substitutive relation of the Eucharist to Yom Kippur can be seen
even more clearly in the long-term process of templization. 44 By templization I mean th_e use of temple terminology for other institutions, in this
case, for the Christian mass: calling the bishop "(high) priest," the table for
the Eucharist "altar," the church "temple," and the special sanctuary in it
"holy of holies." Full-fledged impositions of the temple terminology of
Yom Kippur on the Christian mass can be found in medieval Latin authors
such as Amalar of Metz (d. ca. 850) or Hildebert (d. 1133) and Ivo of
Chartres (d. 1116). 45 Sometimes these interpretations even include the
42
Homily on Leviticus 9:5:9 (SC 287:94-96).

R.J. Daly, "Sacrifice in Origen," Studia Patristica II (1972) 125-129, here 129.
See also the table on p. xxxv in Theo Hermans, Origime. Theologie sacrificielle du
sacerdoce des chritiens (Tbeologie historique I 02; Paris 1996).
44
See Fine, This Holy Place, pp. 41-59,79-94, and 132-156.
4
~ An edited version of Amalar's works appeared in J.M. Hanssens (ed.), Amalarii episcopi opera liturgica omnia (Studi e Testi 138-140; Vatican City, 1948-1950). The other
works are still only in Migne: Hildebert, versus de mysterio missae, PL 171: 1177-1194
(esp. 1183-1190 on Yom Kippur) and liber de sacra eucharistia, PL 171:1195-1212
(here esp. 1212); Ivo, Sermo V sive opusculum de convenientia veteris et novi sacrificii,
PL 162, 535-562 (esp. 553-561 on Yom Kippur).
On the authors and their Yom Kippur interpretations, see J.A. Jungmann, Missarum
sollemnia. Eine genetische Erkliirung der rOmischen Messe (2 vols; Vienna, Freiburg
i. Br., Basel, 5 1962) vol. I, p. 146; vol. 2, pp. 289-90; R. Suntrup, Die Bedeutung der
liturgischen Gebiirden und Bewegungen in lateinischen und deutschen Auslegungen des
9. bis 13. Jahrhunderts (Mil.nsterische Mittelalter-Schriften 37; Munich, 1978), p. 459;
and A. Franz, Die Messe im Deutschen Mittelalter (Dannstadt, 1963, repr. Freiburg,
1902), pp. 429--431. On Amalar, see also E. Volgger, Die Feier des Karfreitags bei
Amalar von Metz (7751780-850) (Ph.D. dissertation, Vienna, 1993); C. Schnusenberg,
Das Verhiiltnis von Kirche und Theater. Dargestellt an ausgewiihlten Schriften der Kir43
270 The Impact o[Yom Kippur on Christianity in the Third to the Fifth Centuries
scapegoat rite. 46 While the date of these texts clearly lies beyond the scope
of this work, these influential commentaries illustrate the continuous
inspiration of Yom Kippur's temple rites. Yet the templization of Christian
liturgy began much earlier, becoming visible to a growing extent already in
the fourth century. Not finding a Christian pendant to Fine's study, I
turned to Lampe's Patristic Greek Lexicon and checked for liturgical use
of terms belonging to the temple vocabulary, to gain a preliminary
impression on templization. 47 Three terms of the temple terminology are
pertinent to Yom Kippur: "high priest," "holy of holies" and "kapporef'representing the performer, the place and an instrument of the ritual. First,
"high priest" and "high priesthood" are compared to Christian offices,
including bishops, from the beginning of the second century (I Clement);
but this is not yet templization in the strict sense.48 For the direct use of
"high priest-(hood)" for bishops, priests and celebrants of the Eucharist,
Lampe cites texts from the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries, respectively. 49
Georg SchOllgen cites also examples from the third century. 50 In Latin,
Tertullian, as early as the third century, calls the bishop "high priest," 51
and Cyprian calls a celebrant of the Eucharist "priest," with an explicit
sacrificial interpretation fashioned on an imitation of the high priest Christ.
thus begins to offer according to what he sees Christ hiinself offered, performs
truly in the place of Christ. 52
Second, while several fourth-century authors use "temple" (va&c;) for

church, 53 the use of "holy of holies" for a special area in the church
emerged in Jerusalem. Lampe ascribes to Eusebius the frrst use of "holy of
holies" ('til Ci-yta 't&v 0.-yirov) for the tomb in the Holy Sepulcher. 54
The revered and most holy witness {J.tapniptov) of the resurrection of the Savior
has reappeared against all hope, and the holy-of-holies grotto (6 ye Ciytov &v
ciyi.rov Civ-rpov) has received a [similar] image of the Savior's revival. 55
This concept appears roughly 50 years later in the description of the Holy
Land pilgrimage of Paula and Eustochium in their letter to Marcella, preserved as letter 46 among those of Jerome:
If Jerusalem was destroyed, it was that its people might be punished; if the temple
was overthrown, it was that its figurative sacrifices might be abolished. As regards
its site, lapse of time has but invested it with fresh grandeur. The Jews of old
reverenced the Holy of Holies, because of the things contained in it -the cherubim, the mercy-seat, the ark of the covenant, the manna, Aaron's rod, and the golden altar. Does the Lord's sepulchre seem less worthy of veneration? As often as
we enter it we see the Saviour in His grave clothes, and if we linger we see again
the angel sitting at His feet, and the napkin folded at His head. Long before this
sepulchre was hewn out by Joseph, its glory was foretold in Isaiah's prediction,
"his rest shall be glorious," meaning that the place of the Lord's burial should be
held in universal honor. 56
For, if Christ Jesus, our lord and God, is himself the high priest of God the father
and first offered himself as a sacrifice to the father and commanded this to be done
in commemoration of himself, certainly the priest who imitates that which Christ
did and then offers the true and full sacrifice in the Church of God the father, if he
chenviiter und liturgischen Texten bis auf Amalarius von Metz (Bern, 1981); and E.T.
Francis, The Eucharistic Theology ofAmalarius of Metz (Paris, 1977) (non vidz). On the
Greek predecessors of the Latin "exegetes," see R. Bomert, Les commentaires byzantins
de la divine liturgie du VIle auXVe sii!cle (Archives de I' orient chretien 6; Paris, 1966). I
would like to express my deepest gratitude to Ewald Volgger, who graciously made
available to me a copy of his fascinating dissertation on the little studied field of medieval liturgy exegesis.
46
On the scapegoat rite in Iva's allegory of the mass, see PL 162:557C, 559B.
47 This impression needs to be reinforced by investigating especially the archaeological data from inscriptions. The passages that follow reflect mostly Lampe. For ftuther
passages from all periods, see H. Nibley, "Christian Envy of the Temple.'' Jewish Quarterly Review 50 (1959/60) 97-123,227-240. While there is a distinction between metaphoric usage (the bishop is like a high priest) and direct usage (the high priest offers the
Eucharist), and both are of interest in our quest, the latter bespeaks a more advanced
stage.
48
On the use of high priest" in Christian administration, see Scb<illgen, "Haberpriester,'' especially columns 37-49.
49 G.W.H. Lampe (ed.), A Patristic Greek Lexicon (Oxford, 1978), p. 239.
50
SchOllgen, "Hoherpriester," columns 39-44.
5 1 Tertullian, On baptism 11:1.
271
Paula and Eustochium revere Jesus' grave as a substitute for the original
holy of holies: The tomb is no less worthy of veneration.
A beautiful application of the high priest and his entry into the holy of
holies to a Christian ritual can be found in the report by Gregory of
Nazianz about his own ordination by Basil in the year 372 modeled on the
Aaronic investiture in Exodus 29.
For you anoint a high priest and put on him the [high-priestly] robe, and crown
him with the turban, and lead him to the altar of the spiritual burnt offering, and
sacrifice the calf of perfection, and fill his hands with the Spirit [=ordinate him],
and lead him into the holy of holies in order to initiate him, and make him into a
minister of the true tent that the Lord, and not man, has set up" [Heb 8:2]Y
52
My translation of Cyprian, Letter 63:14:4 (CSEL 3c:410-4Il).

Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon, p. 897.
54
Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon, p. 19.
55
My translation ofEusebius, Vita Constantini 3:28 (GCS 7:96).
56
Jerome, Letter 46:5; transl. W. Freemantle, NPNF 2:6:62; my emphasis.
51
My translation of Gregory of Nazianz, Homily 10:4 (PG 35:828D-832A). A French
translation is available in SC 405 (M.-A. Calvet-Sebasti; Gregoire de Nazianze. Discours
6-12; Paris 1995), here p. 325.
53
y. ,.
I
In this implicit typology, Gregory imports the temple terminology into

Christian worship, leaving it open to question whether he is implying a
mystical allegory (Gregory entering into the heavenly sanctnary) or a
typology on the historical church building in which the ordination took
place. By equating the ministers of the biblical temple, the heavenly sanctuary and the church building, Gregory most likely has both of these interpretative levels in mind Such a triad appears in the catecheses of Theodore
ofMopsuestia. 58 The high priest's entry into the holy of holies, Christianized in Hebrews, has been re-ritualized in the Christian liturgy.
Finally, iAaan]ptov may describe a special place in a church, as in the
Typicon of Sabas.59 Other instances are from the end of the first millennium. 60 The impetus necessary for the metaphorical use of iAaa'ti}ptov in
Christian ritual is much smaller. The celebrant of the Eucharist - the Christian high priest, so to speak- brings the blood into the holy of holies. Yet
he does not sprinkle it, neither does his source of inspiration, Hebrews,
speak of sprinkling or employ kapporet in Christ's entry to the heavenly
holy of holies. It is, therefore, the Yom Kippur typology of Hebrews rather
than Leviticus 16 itself that influenced templization.
In sum, in the context of hristian ritual atonement, Yom Kippur's
imagery: "high priest(hood)," "entry to the holy of holies" and "scapegoat"
had clearly achieved an important place among some Christians, bnt without the motif of blood sprinkling on the kappore/. 61 Did this rise of Yom
Kippur's imagery happen only because of the "bookish" or "biblical" influence of Leviticus, Hebrews and Romans? The following sections argue
that while the biblical versions of Yom Kippur must be credited with the
main impact, we cannot fully comprehend the rise of the Yom Kippur imagery without assuming an impact on some Christian authors of the fast as
celebrated by contemporary Jews.
273
2. Christian Participation in the Jewish Fast

A considerable number of Christians in third-century Caesarea and latefourth-century Antioch observed the Yom Kippur fast together with their
Jewish neighbors. Above, I argued that Lnke's community, the opponents
of the author of Colossians, and some among Rome's Christian Jews observed the fast around I 00 CE. 62 These Christians did not conceive of their
participation in the fast as contradictory to Christian atonement theology.
Origen and Chrysostom, however, did, and reacted by attacking the Jewish
fast, pointing out its discrepancies in relation to the biblical Yom Kippur
and proposing Christian alternatives.
Two passages illustrate Origen's wrath against members of his own
parish in Caesarea Maritima who participated in the Jewish fast. He declares in his twelfth Homily on Jeremiah:
You, who observe the Jewish fast ('nlv Vllaeiav tlv louOaixijv) as if unaware of the
Day of Atonement that exists since Jesus Christ, you have not beard of the hidden
atonement, but only of the apparent. Because, hearing of the hidden atonement is
hearing how God put Jesus forward as atonement (il.aap.Ov)for our sins,61 and that
he himself is an atonement for our sins, not only for ours, but also for those of the
whole world [lJohn 2:2J.64
The passage cannot be seen as an attack on Jews, because in that case the
would be superfluous. Part of Origen's audience apparently followed the atoning fast of Yom Kippur, and it is them that he is addressing.
It seems that these people were attracted to Judaism even beyond Yom
Kippur, since Origen complains also about Christian observance of circumcision and Passover. He is upset about these .. dangerous ones in between." In his eyes, Christianity and Judaism are exclusive alternatives.
Whoever fasts with the Jews has neither understood nor accepted the
atonement inherent in Jesus' death.
The second passage appears in Origen's tenth Homily on Leviticus:
1ou~aiK1\v
Whence also we must say something now to those who think that in virtue of the
commandment of the Law they must also practice the fast of the Jews (eos, qui
putant pro mandato legis sibi quoque Judaeorum ieiunium ieiunandum). 65
58 See the short analysis in Bornert, Les commentaires byzantins de Ia divine liturgie
du VIle au XVe siecle, pp. 80-82.
59 Kraus, Der Tod Jesu als Heiligtumsweihe, pp. 30-32, referring to C. du Cange,
G/ossarium ad Scriptores Mediae et lnfirmae Graecitatis (Graz, 1958; repr. of 1688)
[column 513]. The Typicon is from the fifth century, but has been frequently reworked.
60 Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon, s. v.
61
. Interesting also is the addition of the Armenian word "atonement" (pUJLDlpP.h} to
some Armenian anaphoras, and the imagery of the high-priestly ritual in the St. James
Anaphora mentioned in Ligier, Pichi d'Adam et piche du monde. Bible, Kippur,
Euchoristie (2 vols; Theologie 49; Paris 1960, 1961), 2:304-306. See also the appendix.
Again, the people fasting "the fast of the Jews" cannot be Jews, but they
may be either Judaizing Christians or Jewish Christians. In third-century
62

Cf. Rom 3:25.
64 My translation of Origen, Homily on Jeremiah 12:13 to Jer 13:17; Greek in
GCS 6:100 (Klostermann).
65 Origen, Homily on Leviticus 10:2:1 (SC 287:132), trans!. Barkley, p. 204. Latin also
in GCS 442:10-11.
63
Palestine the distinction between these two groups might not always have
been very clear. 66 It is more likely though that Origen was disturbed by
dissenters of his primary community, Judaizing Christians, rather than by
Christianizing Jews. The latter were more likely to upset Jews over their
adherence to the Christian Messiah.
While I found no references to Christian participation in the Jewish fast
in subsequent Palestinian authors (such as Eusebius and Cyril of Jerusalem), two Antiochene sources from the end of the fourth century,
Chrysostom (ca. 347-407) and the Canons of the Apostles, prove that
Christian participation in the fast of Yom Kippur was a continuing
phenomenon in Syria-Palestine, at least in cities with a dense Jewish
population." Chrysostom states at the beginning of his first Homily
against the Jews (386), 68 that a burning issue keeps him from continuing
his homilies against the Christological heresy of the "Anomoeans." This
burning issue was the participation of Christians in the Jewish festivals.
(I :4) Another very serious illness calls for any cure my words can bring, an illness
which has become implanted in the body of the Church. We must first root this
ailment out and then take thought for matters outside; we must ftrst cure our own
and then be concerned for others;:who are strangers. (5) What is this disease? The
66
Some Gentiles who became Christian may have earlier been attracted to Judaism
(before converting to Christianity)- would they be Judaizing Christians or Jewish Christians?
67
On Chrysostom and the Jews, see in particular R.L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and
the Jews. Rhethoric and Reality in the Late Fourth Century (The Transformation of the
Classical Heritage 4; Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, 1983), who builds on the work of
M. Simon, "La polemique antijuive de Saint Jean Chrysostome et le mouvement judaisant d' Antioche," in: idem, Recherches d'histoire Judeo-Chretienne (Etudes Juives 6;
Paris, 1962; pp. 140--153). See also R. Brandle, "Christen und Juden in Antiochien in den
Jahren 386/387. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte altkirchlicher Judenfeindschaft," Judaica 43
(1987) 142-168; A.M. Ritter, "Erwi:i.gungen zum Antisemitismus in der Alten Kirche:
Acht Reden tiber die Juden," in: B. Moeller and G. Ruhbach (eds.), Bleibendes im Wandel der Kirchengeschichte (Ttibingen, 1973; pp. 71-91). On Chrysostom's biography, see
J.N.D. Kelly, Golden Mouth. The Story of John Chrysostom. Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop
(Grand Rapids [Mich.], 1995); on the context of these sermon, see pp. 62-66. I have used
mainly the translations of P. W. Harkins, Saint John Chrysostom. Discourses against Judaizing Christians (The Fathers of the Church 68; Washington, D.C., 1979); and Brandle
and Jegher-Bucher (eds.), Acht Re_den gegen Juden, which includes an excellent commentary. Brandle is also working on a new edition in the series SC. The gap in the text of
the second sermon can now be filled by the recent manuscript found and published by W.
Pradels, R. Brandle and M. Heimgartner, "Das bisher vermisste Textstilck in Johannes
Chrysostomus, Adversus Judaeos, Oratio 2," Zeitschrift for Antike und Christentum
(2001) pp. 23-49.
68
Some have suggested calling the sermons "Against the Judaizers," since there is as
much polemics against Judaizers as there is against Jews.
275
festivals of the pitiful and miserable Jews are soon to march upon us one after the
other and in quick succession: the feast of Trumpets, the feast of Tabernacles, the
fasts. 69 There are many in our ranks who say they think as we do. Yet some of
these are going to watch the festivals and others will join the Jews in keeping their
feasts and observing their fasts. I wish to drive this perverse custom from the
Church right now. My discourses against the Anomoeans can be put off to another
time, and the postponement would cause no harm. But now that the Jewish festivals are close by and at the very door, if I should fail to cure those who are sick
with the Judaizing disease, I am afraid that, because of their ill-suited association
and deep ignorance, some Christians may partake in the Jews' transgressions; once
they have done so, I fear my homilies on these transgressions will be in vain. For
if they hear no word from me today, they will then join the Jews in their fasts;
once they have committed this sin it will be useless for me to apply the remedy. 70
Among the Jewish autumn festivals, it is particularly the fast that arouses
the wrath of the venom-spewing "Golden Mouth." It is its atoning purpose,
which is highly incompatible with Christian theology and throws doubt on
the exclusivity and finality of Christ's atonement - even though, from a
historical point of view, New Year and Sukkot may have been as attractive
to the Christians as the Day of Atonement.
Chrysostom' s words show that there were different levels of participation. There were people who only fasted, and there were those who also
participated in the custom of walking barefoot.
Do you fast with the Jews? Then take off your shoes with the Jews, and walk barefoot in the marketplace, and share with them in their indecency and laughter. But
you would not choose to do this because you are ashamed and apt to blush. Are
you ashamed to share with them in outward appearance but unashamed to share in
their impiety? What excuse will you have, you who are only half a Christian?71
But the last of Chrysostom's homilies reveals that Golden Mouth had not
not been very successful with his warnings (8:4).
The third witness to Christian participation in Yom Kippur's fast is
Canon 70 of the Canons of the Apostles, probably from late-fourth-century
Antioch. 72
69
I commented earlier on the strange order of the festivals: above, pp. 68-69.
Against the Jews 1:1 :4; trans!. Harkins, Saint John Chrysostom. Discourses against
Judaizing Christians, pp. 3-4.
71
Against the Jews 1:4:7; transl. Harkins, Saint John Chrysostom. Discourses against
Judaizing Christians, p. 16.
72
The Canons of the Apostles are the ftnal part of the Apostolic Constitutions (8:47:170
85), assembled in Syria about the end of the fourth century. Some scholars presume Antioch to be the place of this compilation. For text and introductory questions, see Metzger, Les Constitutions apostoliques, SC 320, pp. 13-94; SC 336 pp. 9-12 and 274--309.
If a bishop or another cleric should fast with the Jews or celebrate holidays with
them or accept their festive gifts, such as unleavened bread and anything similar to
this, he shall be deposed; if a layman, excommunicated. 73
This is the earliest legal text referring to Yom Kippur. The explicit prohibition of fasting is among the redactional additions of the Canons of the
Apostles to formulae adopted from its source, 74 which did not mention
fasting. 75 It was the situation in the community or communities authoring
the Canons of the Apostles that caused the inclusion of this prohibition.
Fasting now appears at the top of the list. demonstrating that it was the
problem of greatest concern. The punishment imposed is draconian; it resembles that for entering synagogues with the intention to pray, or contributing to synagogues or temples.
Is it possible to understand the distinction in the law between laity and
clergy as evidence for participation of clergy in Yom Kippur? If any priest
or bishop defended his participation in the Jewish fast, such a defense did
not survive in writing. 76 But neither do I know of any statement referring
to bishops deposed or excommunicated for participating in Yom Kippur.
Therefore, no fmal conclusion can be drawn about possible clerical participation in the Jewish fast. Th~ Canons of the Apostles remained a highly
authoritative source in Byzantine legislation. 77 Various commentaries remark upon Canon 70; other texts include a prohibition on participation in
the Jewish fast. 78 Nevertheless, it is difficult to decide if such repetitions of
73
Ei no; SxiaKoxoo; ft iiHoo; KATjptKOo; VTJO"t"eUet).unci louOaimv ft i:opid;;et Jl-c" ain:&v ft O:X."t"at ain&v -cit ii.o; iop-cfjo; l;ivta. otov iii;;U).l i1 n "t"OlOiitov. Ka6atpeiaem si.
AaiKOo;, (upopt-
se
l;;i:a9m. Canons of the Apostles 70, in Linder, The Jews in the Legal Sources of the Early
Middle Ages, #l/3, p. 27. The passage is commented on or included in the following later
collections: Johannes Scholasticus (around 540-560), Collection of Canons in 50 Titles
(Linder, #6/104, see also #6/102); Photius' and Theodoros Balsamon's recensions of the
Nomocanon in 14 Titles (Linder, #7/121, see also #7/118, #7/177, #7/187).
74
Canon 70 is generally regarded as a combination of canons 37 and 38 from the
Council of Laodicea, held in Syria around 380. However, neither passage includes the
fast.
75
Was it that Christian participation in the Jewish fast was not considered as threatening their identity?
76
Leo defends the Christian Fast of the Seventh Month and distinguishes it from the
Jewish fast.
11
Despite the condemnation of the Apostolic Constitutions in the Trullanum, see Linder, The Jews in the Legal Sources of the Early Middle Ages, p. 26.
78
John Chrysostom's sermons against Christian participation in the Jewish festivals of
autumn are referred to explicitly by Johannes Zonaras (twelfth century) in his part of the
Tripartite Commentary to the Conciliar Legislation: see Linder. The Jews in the Legal
Sources ofthe Early Middle Ages, #28/353. He and his contemporaries Theodoros Balsaman and Alexios Aristenos comment also on the prohibition contained in the Canons of
the Apostles: see Linder #28/356, 357, 360,370, 371}.
277
a prohibition reflect the acuteness of the problem or are merely the carrying forward of a tradition. In the West, the authority of the Canons of the
Apostles (known through a sixth-century translation) was much weaker. 79
Origen, Chrysostom and the Canons of the Apostles provide evidence
for the participation of Christians in the Yom Kippur fast in third-century
Caesarea and fourth-century Antioch. All three texts react sharply against
this Judaizing attempt, which they consider incompatible with Christianity 80 Shlomo Pines has suggested that the strong presence of Jewish Christians in Antioch might stand behind this phenomenon. 81
In the following section, I will deal with some more general aspects of
the Christian Yom Kippur polemics. Yet polemics can exist without a historical raisori d'8tre. The importance of the passages on Cluistian participation in Yom Kippur lies in their providing proof that the Jewish fast was
not an imaginary "opponent," attracted Christians in a very concrete way
and influenced the Christianization of Leviticus in exegesis, thereby contributing to the inclusion of Yom Kippur imagery in the thought of some
authors and in the liturgy.
3. Christian Polemics against the Contemporary Yom Kippur

The contemporary Yom Kippur influenced Origen's attempts to persuade
Christians not to participate in Yom Kippur, resulting in a reinterpretation
of Leviticus 16. How "productive" was the tension that Yom Kippur
caused between Christians and Jews in the work of other authors? To what
extent are other Christian interpretations of Leviticus 16 merely "bookish"
Christianizations of the Old Testament and to what extent can they be understood as reactions to a contemporary Jewish fast perceived as threat? In
this section, I want to investigate more closely the interconnection between
polemics and reinterpretation.
79
Linder, The Jews in the Legal Sources of the Early Middle Ages, #105/949.
Finally, is it possible that Basil, too, fought Christians observing Yom Kippur? In
his first Homily on Fasting he counters the claim that Yom Kippur is to be venerated for
being the first fast commanded by God with the argument that Adam was ordered to fast
long before the Torah was given (Basil, Homily on Fasting 1:2 (PG 31:165BC). If his
argument reflects a similar one existing in his community, it is possible that in Basil's
community, too, some Christians observed the Jewish fast.
81 S. Pines, "The Jewish Christians of the Early Centuries of Christianity According to
a New Source," in: G.G. Stroumsa (ed.), The Collected Works ofShlomo Pines. Vol. 4.
Studies in the History of Religion (Jerusalem, 1996; pp. 211-284), here pp. 244-245. I
would like to thank John Gager for drawing my attention to this point.
80
Christian texts railing against Yom Kippur may be polemicizing against

a literal equation of the biblical Yom Kippur with the earthly temple and I
or they may be polemicizing against what they understand as the Jewish
concept of fast and other contemporary Yom Kippur rites. Are polemics
against Yom Kippur mostly "paper tiger" reactions against an imaginary
Jewish institution with no real impact in the community of the writer?
Before classifying the various texts, I want to present the basic lines of the
Christian polemical argument. Since most of the texts have already been
quoted in the two preceding sections (or in the section on Christian descriptions of Yom Kippur in part 1), I will not repeat the list here. 82
First, the polemics against literal interpretations of Leviticus 16 are
based mainly on the historical argument that the temple and its institutions
had been destroyed according to the divine plan foretold by Jesus, showing
clearly that they were merely manifestations of heavenly truths. This argument is based on the concept that there are only two ways to interpret the
Bible, either literally or allegorically, 83 which for the polemicists means
Jewish or Christian. Tertium non datur. There is no room for a non-Christian non-literal reading. Either God referred to atonement in the earthly
temple- which is no longer standing- or he must have meant another temple, which can only be the Christian one. Origen writes for example:
Therefore, let whoever observes these fasts go up "three times a year" to Jerusalem "to appear before the Temple of the Lord," to offer himself to the priest. Let
him seek the altar which was turned into dust; let him offer sacrifices, with no
high priest standing by. For it is written that, fasting, the people will offer "two
he-goats" in a sacrifice. Upon these they ought to cast lots that one of them become "the lot of the Lord" and be offered as a sacrifice to the Lord; but the other's
lot is that it be sent "living into the wilderness," and to have in himself the sins of
the people. Consequently, all these things must be completed by you who want to
observe fasting according to the precept of the Law. 84
Chrysostom objects explicitly to Jewish (and Christian) claims that some

features in the synagogue have taken over temple functions. He observes
that Christians are attracted to synagogues because they deem that the
Torah scrolls bestow a temple-like sanctity on the place; they call the
Torah shrine an "ark," associating it with the ark of the covenant. 85 Yet an
ark doth not a temple make, and Chrysostom counters the Jewish
templization by pointing to its partiality.
See above, pp. 70-77 and 262~277.
There are, of course, several Christian interpretational levels, but for the sake of the
argument, I consider them all as "allegorical."
84
Homily on Leviticus 10:2:1 (SC 287:132-134), transl. Barkley, Origen. Homily on
Leviticus 1-16, p. 204.
85
AgainsttheJews4:7:6; 6:7:1-7.
82
83
279
What sort of ark is it that the Jews now have, where we find no propitiatory, no
tables of the law, no holy of holies, no veil, no high priest, no incense, no
holocaust, no sacrifice, none of the other things that made the ark of old solemn
and august? 86
It might be no coincidence that Chrysostom lists those items needed

especially for Yom Kippur's temple rite. The propitiatory, the holy of
holies, the veil and high priest and the sacrifices - all are missing in the
synagogue - how then can they provide atonement? Chrysostom
acknowledges that there are priests in the synagogues, but they are not true
priests, lacking proper ordination:
We fmd none of these [rites] today: no sacrifice, no holocaust, no sprinkling of
blood, no anointing with oil, no tent of meeting where they must sit for a defmite
number of days. This makes it obvious that the priest among the Jews today is unordained, Unclean, under a curse, and profane; he only provokes God's wrath. If a
priest could not be ordained in any other way than by these rites, and these rites no
longer exist, then there is no possible way that their priesthood could have
continued to exist.87
Chrysostom mocks Jewish templization, which ignores the elements

crucial to Yom Kippur. If we read this passage in the context of the parallel templization of church buildings, administration and liturgy, which
focused on just these items - the holy of holies, the veil, the high priest
and sacrifices and later also the propitiatory- Chrysostom's polemic becomes even more mocking. "We," the Christians, have the true temple in
heaven and in the Church; "you" do not.
Analyzing the Christian exegesis of Leviticus 16, I found very little
evidence for a familiarity with Jewish exegesis. Almost all parallels can be
explained with the common biblical source. 88 An exception may be a reference to the deification of the high priest on his entering the holy of holies,
which is found in Leviticus Rabbah, in Origen and in Philo,89 Cyril's reference to the twinning of the goats may be dependent on a Jewish tradition; 90
likewise Ishodad's polemics against the red ribbon 91 While this does not
preclude explaining some Christian interpretations of Leviticus 16 as
reactions to the attraction of the contemporary Yom Kippur, their authors'
acquaintance with the contemporary Yom Kippur has first to be shown.
86
Against the Jews 6:7:2; trans!. Harkins, Saint John Chrysostom. Discourses against
81 Against the Jews 6:5:9; trans!. Harkins, Saint John Chrysostom. Discourses against
88 For example, the interpretation of Azazel as a demon.
89 See above, p. 125, note 243.
90
See above, note 36, pp. 267-268.
91 See above, p. 38.
Second, those who polemicize against the fast are in a difficult position,
given that fasting is honored among Christians, too. Galatians 4:9-10 is
frequently cited as stating that though Christians may fast every day and
should fast frequently, they should not observe any special holy day. Basil,
in his first Homily on Fasting, counters the claim that Yom Kippur is to be
venerated for being the first fast commanded by God with the argument
that Adam was ordered to fast long before the Torah was given. 92 If his argument reflects a similar one existing in hls community, it is possible that
in Basil's community, too, some Christians observed the Jewish fast.
Many Church Fathers denounce the Jews as hypocrites, quoting the
words of Isaiah 58 and Jonah: people fasting demonstratively in sackcloth
and ashes, as opposed to the inward fashion of Christians, who anoint the
head and wash the face, as Matthew 6:17 enjoins 93 The use oflsaiah 58
and/or Jonah may be a polemical response to their function as Haftarot on
Yom Kippur; yet both religions may have chosen the texts merely for their
suitability and their place in the common canon. Similarly, the use of
Matthew 6:17 could be based on an awareness of Jewish fasting rites, but
could equally be traditional use of the main New Testament prooftext.
These depictions do not provid<>. any clue as to whether the Christian polemics are attacking a real fast or an imaginary one, as long as they do not
specifY other rites confirmed by Jewish sources- as in the case of Tertollian (praying in open places, festal garments, waiting for evening star),
Ephrem (praying, purification), Chrysostom (dancing barefoot on the marketplace), Leo (walking barefoot) and Theodore! of Cyrus (laughing,
playing and dancing): 94
He [God] ordered fasting on the tenth of the month. Therefore, he called this day
the Day of Atonement. He said "Humble your souls from the evening of the ninth
of the month" 95 and "every soul, which will not be humbled on that day, that soul
will be destroyed from your people."96 Yet the Jews, who undisguisedly fight
against the law, do not look sad on this day, but laugh and play and dance and
practice unchaste words and deeds (yeA.&cn Kat xai,ouat Kai xopeilooot Kai (hco1..6:ctot<; PtlJ.lam Kat xp6:yj.laot KixPTJV't"at). 97
Theodore! juxtaposes the biblical commandment with Jewish practices,

implying that the joyous character of the Jewish fast completely
92
Basil, Homily on Fasting 1:2 (PG 31:165BC).

E.g. Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 40:4; Origen, Homily on Leviticus 10:2:4 (SC
287:136); Ephrem, Homilies on Fasting2:1; Basil, On Fasting l-2; Leo, Sermon 92:2.
94
For these texts, see above, pp. 73-76.
95
Lev 23:27.32.
96
Lev 23:29.
97
My translation of Quaestiones in Octateuchum, In Leviticum 32 (ed. Fernandez
Marcos and Siienz-Badillos, p. 183:12-19).
93
ChriStian Exegesis of Leviticus and the Polemics against Yom Kippur
281
contradicts the precepts of Leviticus, which speaks of "humbling the

soul."" Dancing matches Mishnah Ta 'anit 4:8 and proves that Theodoret
was an "eyewitness." It is not clear to me what stands behind "unchaste
words and deeds." It is probably just unfounded polemics. If Theodoret's
words reflect actual Jewish behavior, this might be in reference to the
grooming of the dancing maidens, as mentioned in Mishnah Ta 'anit 4:8.
The Christian texts on Yom Kippur can be classified according to the
two categories mentioned above - polemics against a literal reading of
Leviticus 16 or polemics against a hypocritical fasting practice. The
manner in which an interpretation of Leviticus 16 relates to the contemporary Jewish fast can be classified by which of these two areas the
authors cover - i.e. whether their authors are "eyewitnesses" of a contemporary Yom Kippur or not. Eyewitnesses are those who describe contemporary Yom Kippur rites that they could not have derived from biblical
exegesis. Fasting, for example, is too common to serve as a basis; but
dancing and other joyful activities, walking barefoot, praying, and the like
point to personal acquaintance (e.g. Barnabas, Tertollian, Theodoret,
Chrysostom, Leo, Ephrem). Authors who betray firsthand acquaintance
with Judaism regarding topics other than Yom Kippur also belong to this
group (e.g. Justin, Origen, Cyril of Alexandria, Jacob ofSarug).
"Eyewitnesses" who polemicize against the contemporary Jewish fast in
the context of a reinterpretation of Leviticus 16 and 23 provide an example
of the impact of the contemporary Yom Kippur on the development of
100
Christian thought. 99 To this group belong Barnabas, Justin, Tertullian,
Origen, Theodoret and, as we shall see in the next chapter, also Leo. 101
This attitude is similar to that of an American rabbi who promotes Hanukkah while simultaneously polemicizing against Christmas. Even if he does
not complain about Jews having a Christmas tree in their house, it is clear
that his polemics and his promotion of the Jewish festival are related. His
98 Exceptionally, Theodore! refers to the contemporary Yom Kippur not with "fast,"
but with "Day of Atonement," most probably because of his biblical lemma.
99 I.e. texts that juxtapose an attack on the Jewish fast with a Christian reading of the
high priest or the goats.
100 In On Fasting, Tertullian refers positively to Judaism, but only in this specific context, because he wants to portray the Jews as more devout than the non-Montanist Christians. This bias becomes apparent from his less sympathetic references in Against Marc ion and Against the Jews, where he denounces those observing the Jewish fast as "fasting
from salvation."
101 On Leo, see pp. 74-76 above and 312-317, below.
promotion of Hanukkah is linked to his reactions to the perceived threat of
Christmas. 102
"Eyewitnesses" who polemicize against the contemporary Jewish fast
without giving a Christian reinterpretation of Leviticus 16 or 23 provide
evidence of the ongoing challenge of Yom Kippur for Christians. To this
group belong Ephrem, Chrysostom and perhaps also Eusebius and Basil.
Those authors who give a Christian reinterpretation of Leviticus 16 or
23 without referring to the contemporary Jewish fast - such as Augustine
and Cyprianus Gallus - may be instances of a solely "bookish" influence
of Yom Kippur, but this is merely an argumentum e silentio. The example
of Origen, who does not detail contemporary rites though he is clearly an
eyewitness to Christian participation in them, shows that we should not
jump to conclusions. Two exegetes of Leviticus 16, Hesychius and Cyril of
Alexandria, refer to the "fast." 103 Their exegesis does not provide evidence
as to whether the polemics were directed against the Yom Kippur of their
contemporary Jewish neighbors or against an imagined institution. Stefano
Tampellini has found no conclusive evidence that Hesychius was familiar
with Jewish exegesis. 104 Further investigation might reveal some contact.
His being in Jerusalem suggests that Hesychius was acquainted with living
Jews. Robert Wilken's examination of Cyril's relationship to Judaism
makes it quite reasonable to believe that Cyril knew the Jewish fast directJyi05 Cyril's exegesis of Leviticus 16 in the Glaphyra should therefore
be read together with the references to the true spiritual fast in On the Adoration and Worship of God in Spirit and in Truth as an anti-Jewish
polemic. Cyril, then, probably belongs to the eyewitnesses.
Finally, those authors who mention Yom Kippur but most probably
were not eyewitnesses and have not provided a Christianized version of
Leviticus 16 or 23 merely constitute evidence for Christian awareness of
the existence of Yom Kippur, biblical or post-biblica!. 106
In sum, many texts from all times and geographical zones attest to the
tension Christian theologians felt toward the contemporary Yom Kippur
102 On some aspects of the impact of Christmas on American and German Judaism, see
J. Weissman Joselit, '"Merry Chanuka': The Changing Holiday Practices of American
Jews, 1880-1950," in: J. Wertheimer (ed.), The Uses of Tradition. Jewish Continuity in
the Modern Era (New York and Jerusalem, 1993; pp. 303-325).
103
Hesychius, Commentary on Leviticus 23:27-32, PG 93:10928; Cyril of Alexandria,
On the Adoration and Worship of God in Spirit and in Truth (PG 68:1105BC).
104 Tampellini, "Introduzione allo studio del Commentarius in Leviticum di Esichio di
Gerusalemme," pp. 229-231.
105
Wilken, Judaism and the Early Christian Mind; cf. pp. 267-268 note 36 above.
106
E.g. the polemical references in Aristides, Apology 14:4 (Syriac); and Diognet 3: 14:1. See above, pp. 219-220.
283
(Barnabas, Justin, Tertu!lian, Origen, Theodore!, Leo, Ephrem, Chrysostom and perhaps also Eusebius, Basil and Cyril of Alexandria). Some of
them provide us with quite conclusive evidence for an impact of contemporary Yom Kippur upon some exegetes of Leviticus 16 (Barnabas, Justin,
Tertullian, Origen and Theodore!) and, as we shall see in the next chapter,
on the Christian Fast of the Seventh Month (Leo). On the other hand, some
exegetes seem to be influenced merely by the biblical Yom Kippur
(Augustine, Hesychius? and Cyprianus Gallus).
4. Anti-Christian Polemics in Yom Kippur Texts

If Yom Kippur was a challenge for Christian theologians, the Christian
claim of Christ's once-and-for-all fulfillment of the Day of Atonement ritual might by the same token have been a challenge for Jewish theologians.
The ideal liturgical Sitz im Leben to express answers to these Christian
claims would be the Yom Kippur service. In turn, inclusion of polemics
against the Christian atonement concept in the Yom Kippur liturgy explains at least some of the Christian concerns against participation in Yom
Kippur. To_ show this "other side" of the tension around atonement and
Yom Kippur, I collected some statements from the Talmud and from Sidrei
Avodah that may be understood as polemical reactions against Christian
claims to have inherited the biblical high priesthood, against high-priestly
Christo logy and against the atoning power of the cross. All of these concepts became more manifest to non-Christians during the Christianization
of the Roman Empire (especially of the Holy Land), through the development of a more public litnrgy and through the finding of the True Cross
and the development of its cult.
Two famous passages in the Talmudim divide the Second Temple period into three declining epochs: the 40-year golden age of Simon the Just,
the 40-year dark age before the destruction of the temple, and the age in
between. 107 In the golden age, the lot of God always carne up in the right
hand, the red ribbon always became white and the western lantern always
burned. In the intermediate age, this was not always the case. And in the
dark age, the 40 years preceding the destruction of the temple, $is was
never the case. As the text appears now, there is clearly a relation between
the golden age and the dark age, both 40 years long, with the first verging
on ideal conditions, the latter leading to catastrophe. However, the first
passage, which deals with the golden age and the intermediate age, and the
17
0
yYoma 6:3, 43c; bYoma 39ab.
second passage are separated by an anecdote on Simon the Just. The tradition about the red ribbon, which no longer became white in the 40 years
before the destruction of the temple, appears also on its own. 108 The two
traditions may therefore have been transmitted independently, joined only
at a later stage, reflected in the Talmudim. 109 There may be a second intention in the passage on the dark age, beyond portraying the high-priestly
Verfallsgeschichte from an anti-Christian stance. About 40 years before
the destruction, i.e. around 30 CE, Jesus was crucified, and according to the
Christians, this death effected atonement. The rabbis claimed the opposite:
that exactly from that time, the red ribbon no longer became white, i.e.
atonement was no longer effected. 110
Another Baraita from the Tosefta explicitly mentions trl,?J, heretics.
"They asked Rabbi Aqiva: "What (shall the high priest do)? (Shall he)
switch (the lot) from the left (hand) to the right (hand)?" He said them:
"Do not give the heretics an opportunity to oppress you." 111 The commentators of the Talmud read into Aqiva's warning that the sages should not
create the impression that they decide halakhic questions arbitrarily. While
Rashi understands the O'l'~ as disciples of Jesus, it is difficult to define the
exact opposition group.
I suggested above that the reappraisal of the Levitical priesthood, especially in the piyyutim - inspired by priestly circles - might have been directed against the rising high-priestly Christology and the Christian use of
the term "priest" in the administration, especially after the imperialization
of Christianity had made these concepts concrete in the context of the empire and its cities. According to the Christian claim, Christ replaced tbe
Levitical priesthood with his Melchizedekian priesthood, the former being
corrupt and its rituals without power. In the first part of the Sidrei Avodah
on the world's history up to Levi, however, Melchizedek plays no role.
The Sidrei Avodah glorifY the works of the Levitical high priests, their
power and effectiveness. It is noteworthy that these Sidrei Avodah evolve
in Palestine during approximately the same period as the high-priestly
108
bRH31b.
Of course, the dating of the Baraita is difficult, but its being written in Hebrew may
perhaps point to an earlier time, still in the Tannaitic era. However, one cannot be sure
about this.
110 I would like to thank Ephraim Shoham Steiner for this reading. Hans Kosmala sug
gested that the passage reflects a Jewish disbelief in the atoning effect of the sacrifices of
Yom Kippur: H. Kosmala, "Jom Kippur," Judaica 6 (1950) 1-19, here pp. 18-19.
111 tYoma 2:10: m11? oJ11:J'7 m;m mm '7N D;"''7 '1JN 1'1J''7 '7NniZ71J muw? l:l1:J N:l'j?S '1 nN 1'7N:IZl
D:l'1nN. This Baraita appears also in bYoma 40b, slightly adapted. Due to the censure the
modem prints read "Sadducees," but all good manuscripts read PJ'IJ. See Rabbinovicz,
Diqduqey Soferim, vol. 4, p. 111.
109
285
Christology becomes more visible in the liturgy, especially in the newly

constructed churches in Palestine.
In his recent Poetry and Society in Jewish Galilee of Late Antiquity, Joseph Yahalom dedicated two sections to anti-Christian polemics in the piyyutim for Rosh Hashanah by Yose ben Yose and Yannai. 112 If these
paytanim did not hesitate to express their Jewish identity over and against
the Christian environment in liturgical compositions for the New Year, it
would be strange not to fmd at least some similar expressions in piyyutim
for Yom Kippur. Most scholars admit to the presence of quite strong antiChristian polemics in the Yom Kippur piJYut Ha 'Omrim leKhilay Shoa ', 113
which I, however, leave aside, since the polemicsare not directed specifically against high-priestly Christology. Yahalom refers to a possibly antiChristian passage in a stanza dealing with the Sabbath in what is probably
the earliest extant poetic Seder Avodah- 'Az be 'Ein Kol: 114
Those smearing whitewash on [the Sabbath] do not have rest [on it]
since the wicked (are) withheld from its light.
D'I11171 1:!7J1JJ num ,, ltlli'IJJ' N7 tJ
'7~n
no
These lines are a play on words in Ezekiel 13: II: "Say to those who smear
whitewash on it (that it shall fall)," and Job 38:15: "Light is withheld from
the wicked (and their uplifted arm is broken)," where the same expressions
~!:In ,nt? and 011M tPYtv1n Yl?J'l appear. Here, it may be understood as an antiChristian polemic comparing to wicked sorcerers those who impose
Sunday over the Sabbath, a hot issue in the late fourth century.
112
Yabalom, Poetry and Society in Jewish G.alilee of Late Antiquity, [in Hebrew] (Tel
Aviv, 1999), pp. 64--71 and 72-80.
113
Y11J7 '7J7 D'11:JlNil (ed. Zulai, p. 339); S. Lieberman, "Hazonot Yannai" [in Hebrew]
Sinai 4 (1939) 219-250, here pp. 224ff. Johann Maier tried to refute this view,
suggesting that the polemical reading is only a medieval interpretation: see J. Maier,
"The Piyyut 'Ha'omrim Ie-khi/ay shoa' and Anti-Christian Polemics" [in Hebrew] in:
E. Fleischer and J. Petuchowsky (eds.), Studies in Aggada, Targums and Prayers of
Israel in Memory of Josef Heinemann (Jerusalem, 1981; pp. 100-110); but Zvi Rabinovitz, the recent editor ofYannai, rightly states that Maier's arguments are hardly convincing: see Z.M. Rabinovitz (ed.), The Liturgical Poems of Rabbi Yannai according to the
Triennial Cycle of the Pentateuch and the Holidays. Critical Edition with Introduction
and Commentary [in Hebrew] (2 vols; Jerusalem, 1985, 1987) vol. 2, pp. 207-227, esp.
pp. 221-222. See also Yahalom, Poetry and Society in Jewish Galilee of Late Antiquity,
pp. 73-74. On Yannai, see also N.M. Bronznick, The Liturgical Poetry of Yannai. Explanations and Interpretations with Suggestions for Textual Emendations and Completions of Lacunae (Jerusalem, 2000).
114
'Az be'Ein Kol ("Then, when there was nothing") (ed. Yahalom, p. 88, lines 214215, with notes).
Other verses that I collected from the Sidrei Avodah before Yannai
match such a context of Christian-Jewish polemics. I have focused on
statements against the high-priestly Christology, Christian claims on the
priesthood and the salvific effect of the wood of the cross. Naturally, the
polemical tendency changes from Seder to Seder and some Sdarim show
more specific anti-Christian polemics than others. us
The Seder Avodah 'Az be 'Ein Kol, includes another two double stanzas
that may refer to Christ's atoning death on the cross:
An opening of righteousness,
for a criminal (YID1!l) cannot
he [the high priest] shall open for himself

atone for criminals. 116
According to the Christian concept, Christ died on the cross, a punishment

for criminals, but is himself considered sinless - tmlike the Levitical high
priests, who "had to offer a sin offering before being able to atone for
others." This concept is turned on its head by 'Az be 'Ein Kol. It claims that
the Levitical high priest did a good thing in bringing a sin offering for his
transgressions and confessing his sins, while that criminal who died on the
cross cannot supposedly atone for othersY 7
The famous paytan Yose pen Yose composed many, very different Sidrei Avodah and other religious poems. One poem for Yom Kippur is the
lamenting confession 'Ein Lanu Kohen Gado/. 118 The polemical intent
becomes clear from the third line:
The service has ceased from the House of Service
and how shall we serve the Pure when the foreigner (,T) opresses us. 119
The current (Christian) government keeps the community from rebuilding

the temple and reinstalling the liturgy. 120 The poet reacts to the Christian
substitution theology thus:
287
The contemptible [Israel], 121 the foreigners (D'1T) treated her with contempt
and how will we come to our heritage (;-t'mJ'7), when our heritage belongs to the
foreigners (c,T?).m
Clearly, 1r refers to the ruling Christians, who claim to be heirs to the heritage belonging to the Jews, which may include the "Old" Testament, the
land oflsrael and the (high) priesthood. Finally comes the line
The woods of the order (1,37 'lll) stopped on the altar of wood (TY) 123
acd how shall we become pure by the wood (fYJ.), when we failed at the wood
(fYJ.)?124
Repeating the key word "fY" four times is almost certainly a pun on the yY,
i.e. the cross and its (im)potence in achieving purity. This type of polemic
against the "wood" of the cross is comprehensible over and against the rising cult of the cross and the distribution of cross relics after the discovery
of the True Cross around 335.
Yose's most famous Seder Avodah is 'Attah Konanta '0/am beRov
Hesed, still in use in the custom of three northern Italian cities to this
day.l2 5 This Seder Avodah contains an ambiguous line on the Levitical
priesthood:
And the pillagers of their [the priests'] honor will be swallowed and infected. 126
At first glance, this line refers to the past, i.e. Korach and Hezekiah. Yet
the future tense might well be understood as directing curses against those
who will claim the honor of the biblical priesthood, i.e. the Christian
priests and their heavenly high priest. This interpretation becomes clearer
in light of two sentences in Yose's longest Seder Avodah, 'Azkir Gevurot
'Eloah, 127 which can be understood against Christian conceptions of
priesthood. 128
To the foreigner (1T) he will not give the heritage of their (the priests') honor/
no human being will inherit the gift of their part. 129
115
E.g. 'Asapper Gedo/ot (ed. Mirsky, pp. 203-210).
116 'Az be'Ein Kol (ed. Yahalom, p. 146, lines 762-763).
117 Regretfully, the extant fragment of 'Az be 'Ein Ko/ ends abruptly in the middle of
the bull being slaughtered. Another early Seder Avodah, which seems to be closely
connected to 'Az be 'Ein Kol, also contains the line "for a criminal (:111019) cannot atone for
criminals" (line 382). Yahalom added the extant fragment in his edition of 'Az be'Ein
Ko/. We cannot be sure about the Seder's title, since the first lines are missing. Yahalom
suggests seeing here the lost 'Aromem le'EI ('nb czmN) by Yose ben Yose.
118 'Ein Lanu Kohen Gadol (We do not have a high priest) (ed. Mirsky, pp. 210-216).
l19 Ed. Mirsky, p. 210, line 3.
120 The feeling of persecution and oppression is expressed also in the following: "The
blood of the sprinkling offer has left the House of Offering I and how shall we sprinkle
blood, when our blood is poured out?" (ed. Mirsky, p. 211, line 8).
121 Cf. Mirsky's commentary to this line.

Ed. Mirsky, p. 212, line 14.
123
Mirsky refers to the altar of wood in Ezek 41:22.
124 Ed. Mirsky, p. 215, line 32.
125 'Attah Konanta '0/am beRov Hesed (1on :mJ. o?lY ;-~mm .1nl() (You established a
world most graciously) (ed: Mirsky, pp. 178-203).
126 Ed. Mirsky, p. 187, line 71: U1lll'l1Y?n rnnJ n:11.
127 'Azkir Gevurot 'Eloah. Here (ed. Mirsky, pp. 127-172).
128
The very beginning of 'Azkir Gevurot 'Eloah emphasizes absolute monotheism in
an almost patripassianistic way and defines Jewish identity over and against all others
(ed. Mirsky, p. 127, lines 1-4).
129 Ed. Mirsky, p. 148, line 119.
122
288 The Impact a/Yam Kippur on Christianity in the Third to the Fifth Centuries
This line is quite similar to the lines of 'Ein Lanu Kohen Gadol, quoted
above, but here the priestly honor is endangered explicitly by the foreigners, the ruling Christians, as in 'Ein Lanu Kohen Gadol. Another half-line
m~m ,rnJ. tPpm ,,xu can be interpreted in two different ways, either as "the
keepers of the laws, the swift in commandments" or "the Christians of the
'laws' are pillagers of the commandments." The first praises the priests,
the second is an indictment of those who deprived Israel of its commandments and yet claim to fulfill them.
The passages cited above may be understood as a rejection of Christian
claims to have inherited the priesthood, to have a sinless high priest and to
have an all-atoning cross. The rabbinic texts and the piyyutim coWlter these
claims by maintaining that strangers cannot inherit the priesthood. The
Christian Pseudo-Messiah died as a criminal on the cross and cannot even
atone for himself. That his death had no atoning effect is shown by the cessation of the miracle of the red ribbon in the year he died. While these are
polemics on general Christian ideas, they are embedded in liturgical and
halakhic Yom Kippur texts, showing the Jewish aspect of the tension between two religions concerning the question of atonement and priesthood,
particularly on this special day.'
289
texts pertaining to the fast. The Jewish Yom Kippur prayers, then, also developed partly in response to Christian atonement theology.
The impact of the contemporary Yom Kippur on early Christianity encompasses a "positive adoption," 130 in the sense that it attracted some
Christians to observe the fast, and a "negative reaction," in the sense that it
provoked polemics against and dissociation from the contemporary Yom
Kippur. Yet Christianity did not react by rejecting the Yom Kippur imagery altogether. On the contrary, another "positive" effect regarding Yom
Kippur was the continuing development of a detailed Christian interpretation of the biblical Yom Kippur and its intensified use in Christian
theology. It is conspicuous that Origen, the first great Church Father to
interpret Christ's death as an atoning sacrifice, is also so deeply engaged in
an exegesis of Leviticus 16 in the sociohistorical context of the challenge
of Christian's participating in Yom Kippur. In the next chapter! will argue
that this tension also affected the Christian festival calendar by attempts to
counter, through concurrent feasts, the appeal of the Jewish fast.
Conclusion
Yom Kippur's temple imagery had an enormous impact on early Christian
sacrificial theology and the interpretation of the liturgy. That this impact
was not only the "bookish" legacy of the adoption of Leviticus, Hebrews
and Romans into the Christian canon and the necessity to explain them, but
also the outcome of Jewish-Christian tensions on the issue of atonement
and the Day of Atonement has been argned on the following basis. The
earliest Christian exegete of Leviticus, Origen, who par excellence sets the
stakes for successive generations, states explicitly that he is battling the
"problem" of Christians participating in the Jewish fast. He views their
participation as denying the exclusivity of Christ's once-and-for-all atoning death. Statements by Cbrysostom and in the Canons of the Apostles
prove that Yom Kippur continued to attract Christians and to disturb theologians. Although I found no further explicit examples of Church Fathers
fighting this phenomenon, the numerous Christian authors polemicizing
against Yom Kippur and betraying firsthand knowledge of Jewish rites
constitute evidence of the threat these authors felt from Yom Kippur's alternative atonement. The Jewish side of this tension is expressed in the
polemical passages inserted in the Yom Kippur liturgy and in halakhic
130
On these terms, see the introduction, on types of influence, above, pp. 4-6.
Yom Kippur and the Christian Autumn Festivals
291
These festivals have been frequently investigated, most recently by

Louis van T ongeren in his dissertation on the Exaltation of the Cross. 2
Sources on the early development of these festivals are scarce. Eusebius,
Socrates and Sozomenos describe the actual dedication in 335. 3 Details of
the liturgy of the yearly festival can be found in Egeria, 4 in the Armenian
Chapter 8

In the late third century, the central Christian festal seasons were spring
and early summer with Easter and Pentecost. During the fourth century,
Christmas entered most liturgical calendars and gave the Christian year a
second, winter focal point. Yet the autumn still had no major Christian
festival, in contrast to the intense Jewish festival cycle of Tishri. While Judaism was generally attractive to Christians, the autumn festivals seem to
have been particularly appealing. I suggest seeing two later Christian festivals in autumn as related to the Jewish fall feasts, especially Yom Kippur.
The Encaenia/Exaltation of the Cross emerged from bookish imagination
but plausibly also to provide a Christian alternative to the Jewish autumn
festivals (section 1). The liturgical traditions of the Roman Fast of the
Seventh Month include customs adopted from the Jewish autumn festivals
as well as polemics against Yom Kippur. Perhaps it is even a Christianized
Yom Kippur (section 2). In addition, the commemoration of the annunciation to Zechariah developing in the East, possibly in fourth-century Jerusalem, reenacts Jewish-Christian legends around Zechariah and Yom
Kippur (section 3). 1
1. The Encaenia, the Exaltation of the Cross and Yom Kippur

The Encaenia are the yearly commemorations of the dedication of the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher- first the Martyrion in 335, later also the
Anastasis. The Exaltation of the Cross celebrates the (alleged) invention of
the True Cross by Helena Augusta. It began as part of the Encaenia and
gradually developed into a separate (estival. A distinct name for it is attested for the first time in the sixth century. Both festivals spread widely
from their Jerusalem origin, sometimes with a slight change in the date.
The Encaenia reached most Eastern Orthodox churches; the Exaltation is
celebrated in the Eastern traditions as well as in the Roman Church.
1
For a possible additional influence of Yom Kippur on early Christian liturgy, see
above, p. 3, note 10, and the appendix.
.i
j~l.~~
2
L van Tongeren, Exaltatio crucis. Het fees! van Kruisverhe.ffing en de zingeving
van het kruis in het Westen tijdens de vroege middeleeuwen: Een liturgie-historische
studie (TFT Studies 25; Tilburg, 1995); English translation, Exaltation of the Cross.
Towards the Origins of the Feast of the Cross and the Meaning of the Cross in Early
Medieval Liturgy (Liturgia condenda 11; Leuven, 2001). Van Tongeren has summarized
the frrst two chapters in a concise article, "Yom Kreuzritus zur Kieuzestheologie. Die
Entstehungsgeschichte des Festes der KreuzerhOhung und seine erste Ausbreitung im
Westen," Ephemerides Liturgicae 112 (1998) 216-245, on the development until the
seventh century: see pp. 216-226. See also J. Hallit, "La Croix dans le rite byzantin,"
Parole de !'Orient 3 (1972) 262-311, here pp.288-293; and R.P.F. Mercenier and
F. Paris, La prire des iglises de rite byzantin.ll. Lesfites.l. GrandesfJtes]lXes (Amaysur-Meuse Belgique, 1939), pp. 32-58, on aspects of the modem cult (I was not able to
consult the more recent 1953 edition); for the description of the Armenian rite, see:
S. Der Nersessian, "La <Fete de !'Exaltation de la Croix>," Annuaire de l'institut de
philologie et d'histoire orientales et slaves. lla:yKaptrela. Mit~ges Henri Grigoire l 0
(1950) 193-19&_ Useful lexicon articles are R.F. Taft and A. Kazhdan, "Cross, Cult of
the," The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium 1 (1991) 551-553; and A. Bugnini, "Croce.
VII. La C[roce] nella liturgia," Enciclopedia Cattolica 4 (1950) 960-963. The classic
book by A. Frolow, La relique de Ia vraie Croix (Paris, 1961), is not helpful on the ritual
history of the Exaltation.
3
Eusebius, Vita Constantini 4:40-46. Cf. Socrates, History of the Church 1:33; Sozo~
menos, History of the Church 2:26; A.-J. Festugiere, B. Grillet and G. Sabbah (transl.),
Sozomne: Histoire Ecc/esiastique. Livres I-II. Texte grec de l'idition J. Bidez (SC 306;
Paris, 1983), PP- 346-349; cf. the Chronikon Paschale 334, ed. L. Dindorf, Chronikon
Paschale (Corpus Scriptorum Histori.ae Byzantinae; Bonn, 1832), PG 92:67-1028); Eng~
lish translation by Michael and Mary Whitby_ Chronicon Paschale 284-628 AD (Trans~
lated Texts for Historians 7; Liverpool, 19&9), p. 19-20; and the pilgrim Theodosius
(ed. P. Geyer, CSEL 39:135-150), here pp. 140-142.
4 "(I) Also, Feast of the Dedication (dies enceniarum) is the name they use for the day
when the Martyrium, the holy church on Golgotha, was consecrated to God. {2) Moreover,
the holy church which is at the Anastasis, at the place, that is, where the Lord rose after
His Passion, was also consecrated .to God on the same day. (3) The dedication of these
churches is observed with the most solemn liturgy, since the cross of the Lord was found
on that day also. (4) This is why it was decreed that when the above-mentioned holy
churches were first consecrated the consecrations would be on the same day as that on
which the cross of the Lord was found, so that these events might be celebrated at the
same time, on the same day and with full liturgy. {5) It was also discovered from the
Scriptures that this Feast of Dedications would be on the day when the holy ruler Solo~
mon stood and prayed before the altar of God in the newly completed house of God
which he had built, as it is written in the books of Paralipomenon [2Chr 5-7, esp. 7:9-10;
cf. 1Kgs 8]. (6) When this Feast of the Dedications is at hand, it is observed for a period
and Georgian translations of the Jerusalem lectionary (the Old Armenian

Lectionary and the Old Georgian Lectionary), 5 and in few other places. 6
of eight days. (7) Many days beforehand a crowd of monks and aputactitae begin gathering together from various provinces, not only from Mesopotamia and Syria, from Egypt
and the Thebaid, where the monks are numerous, but also from all other plaCes and
provinces. (8) In fact, there is no one who would not go to Jerusalem on this day for such
a solemn liturgy and for such a splendid feast. (9) Lay people, both men and women, also
gather together in Jerusalem on these days from all provinces in the spirit of faith and on
account of the feast day. {LO) Though fewer in number, there are still more than forty or
fifty bishops in Jerusalem during these days, and with them come many of their clergy.
{II) What -can I add? Everyone considers that he has fallen into great sin if he is not present on days of such solemnity, unless there be conflicting obligations, such as would
keep a man from fulfilling a good intention. (12) During the Feast of the Dedications, the
decoration of all the churches is similar to that at Easter and at Epiphany, and on each
day they assemble for the liturgy in various holy places, just as at Easter and at Epiphany. (13) On the first and second days, everyone goes to the major church, called the
Martyrium; (14) then on the third day to the Eleona, the church situated on the mountain
from which the Lord ascended into heaven after His Passion. Within the church there is a
grotto, in which the Lord taught the appstles on the Mount of Olives. (15) Then on the
fourth day ... " Egeria, Diary 4~9 (her diary ends here); G.E. Gingras (transl.), Egeria:
Diary of a Pilgrimage. Translated and Annotated (Ancient Christian Writers 38; New
York and Ramsey [N.J.], 1970), pp. 126-128. For the sake of convenience, I have nwnbered the sentences.
5
A very useful introduction to the role of the early lectionaries in the history of the
Jerusalem liturgy is the study by S. Verhelst, ..La Iiturgie de Jerusalem a l'epoque byzantine. Genese et structures de l'annee liturgique'' (Ph.D. dissertation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1999). The Old Armenian Lectionary has been edited by A. Renoux, Le
codex armenien Jerusalem I2 I, TOme I: Introduction: Aux origines de Ia liturgie hierosolzmitaine, lumires nouvelles. T6me 2: Edition comparee du texte et de deux autres
manuscrits (PO 35: l; 36:2; Turnhout, 1969, 1971). He also published later (but still very
early) manuscripts, Ch. [=A.] Renoux, Le Lectionnaire de Jerusalem en Arminie: Le
Casoc'. I. Introduction et liste des manuscrits. II. Edition synoptique des plus anciens
temoins (PO 44:4; 48:2; Tumhout, 1989, 1999). The Old Georgian Lectionary has been
edited and translated by M. Tarchnischvili, Legrand lectionnaire de l'iglise de Jerusalem (V-VIIr steele) (CSCO 188, 189, 204, 205 = Iberi 9, 10, 13, 14; Louvain, 19591960). G. Garitte (ed.), Le calendrier palestino-giorgien du Sinaiticus 34 {X steele)
(Subsidia Hagiographica 30; Brussels, 1958), has published a calendar that is based on a
lectionary. The Typicon of Constantinople has been edited by J. Mateos ( ed.), Le typicon
de Ia grande iglise. Ms. Sainte-Croix n 40, X steele. Tome I Le cycle des douze mois.
Tome II. Le cycle des fetes mobiles (2 vols; Orientalia Christiana Analecta 165-166;
Rome, 1962-1963).
6
Sozomenos, History of the Church 2:26. Sozomenos wrote between 439 and 450.
"The temple, called the 'Great Martyrium,' which was built in the place of the skull at J erusalem, was completed about the thirtieth year of the reign of Constantine; ... the temple
was therefore consecrated .... Since that period the anniversary of the consecration has
been celebrated with great pomp by the church of Jerusalem; the festival continues eight
293
According to Egeria, who probably visited Jerusalem sometime between

381 and 384 CE, the Encaenia last eight days and commemorate
simultaneously three events: the invention of the cross (3),7 the dedication
of the Martyrion (I) and the dedication of the Anastasis (2). She leaves no
doubt that it was the invention of the cross that set the date for the two
dedications (4), and that the cross is the reason for an exceptionally
splendid liturgy. Egeria does not yet distingnish between a week for the
churches and a day for the cross, or a first day in the Anastasis and a
second in the Martyrion, as is done in the Old Armenian Lectionary. 8
Apparently, for the pilgrim of the late fourth century, the feast of the
dedication is the invention of the cross, and the Exaltation is the Encaenia.
Egeria (and later Sozomenos) assign a quasi-obligatory character to
pilgrimage to the festival (II). The Encaenia equal in solemnity only two
other festivals, Easter and Epiphany, the two other Christian octaves (12).
Unfortunately, Egeria does not give a date for the festival. 9 The earliest
source for this is the Old Armenian Lectionary, giving 13 to 20 September." However, Egeria explicitly compares the dedication of the Holy
Sepulcher with that of the First Temple. According to her, the Encaenia are
celebrated on the same days as the dedication of the first "house of God"
as shown by a passage in "Chronicles." 11
days, initiation by baptism is administered, and people from every region under the sun
resort to Jerusalem during this festival, and visit the sacred places" (transl. NPNF).
See also the homilies under the name of Ephrem, published by S. Heid, "Zwei an
den Enkainien der Jerusalemer Grabeskirche gehaltene Predigten des griechischen
Ephram," Oriens Christianus 84 (2000) 1-22. Heid accepts their authenticity and dates
them to 35()-375 CE (p. 2).
There are also homilies by Alexander the Monk, Sophronius (d. 638) and Andreas
of Crete (d. ca 740), but they go beyond the chronological scope of this investigation. See
Sophronius, Homily on the Exaltation of the Venerable Cross and on the Holy Anastas is
(PG 87/3:3301-3310); Alexander the Monk, On the Finding of the Venerable and Lifegiving Cross (PG 87:3:4021-84); and Andreas of Crete, In exaltationem S. Crucis orationes 1-2 (PG 97:1017-1036, 1035-1046).
7 The numbers in parentheses refer to my earlier enumeration of the sentences in
Egeria, Diary, see above, note 4.
8 For Egeria, the statio for the first two days is the same, the Martyrion. This has
been analyzed by Verhelst, "La liturgie de Jerusalem a I'epoque byzantine," PP- 159-160
and 163.
9 Since in her diary, Egeria describes the Encaenia after the Holy Week and Pentecost, it becomes clear that the Encaenia were later in the year.
JO On the question of the date, see below, p. 296, note 28.
u I.e. 2Chr 7:8-10. According to this passage, Solomon consecrated the temple just
before Succot, 8-14 Tishri. This date matches the Encaenia only imprecisely. Why does
Egeria refer to Chronicles and not to Kings -which leaves open the exact day of the seventh month and therefore fits better - which in general was better known than Chroni-
The structural similarities between the Encaenia and the two Jewish
temple dedication festivals, Sukkot and Hanukkah, have led some scholars
to suggest a genetic connection. 12 They point out that Egeria calls the
festival dies encenarium, the Latin name for Hanukkah. The Encaenia and
Sukkot take place in the seventh month (the same season), last for eight
days (including Shmini Azeret), commemorate the dedication of a place of
worship and are an occasion for pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Several readings
of the Old Armenian Lectionary and the Old Georgian Lectionary,
witnesses to the Jerusalem lectionary, evoke the temple and refer to
Jerusalem and to the cross. 13 Moreover, readings from other old
manuscripts of the Armenian Lectionary, probably from the fifth to
cles? The parallel passage in lKgs 8 speaks of an eight-day dedication (verses 65-66) in
the seventh month (2) leaving the exact dates open, probably presupposing that the dedication of the temple was celebrated during the festival ofSuccot. In any case, 8-14 Tishri
would include Yom Kippur on 10 Tishri. Interestingly the author of Chronicles, in whose
time the Day of Atonement was definitely part of the Jewish ritual calendar, does not
comment on this. See the reference to Jewish traditions regarding this issue above, page
123.
12
In affirmation, see H. Vincent and F.-M. Abel, Jerusalem: recherches de topographie, d'archiologie et d'histoire (2 vols; Paris, 1912-26), here vol. 1, p. 203; J. Wilkinson, "'Jewish Influences on the Early Christian Rite," Le Museon 92 (1979) 347-359; See
also idem, Egeria's Travels to the Holy Land (Jerusalem, 2 1981), pp. 298-310 (= ..Jewish
Influences on the Jerusalem Liturgy"); M.F. Fraser, "Constantine and the Encaenia,"
Studia Patristica 29 (1997) 25-28; J. Schwartz, "The Encaenia of the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, the Temple of Solomon and the Jews," Theologische Zeitschrift 43 (1987)
265-2&4; J. van Goudoever, Biblical Calendars (Leiden, 1959). Skeptical are A. Baumstark, Comparative Liturgy (revised by Bernard Botte; English edition by F.L. Cross;
London, 1958), here p. 203; E.D. Hunt, "Constantine and Jerusalem," Journal of Ecclesiastical History 48 (1997) 405-424; 0. Irshai, "Constantine and the Jews: The Prohibition against Entering Jerusalem - History and Hagiography," [in Hebrew with English swnmary] Tarbiz 60 (1995) 129-178; Verhelst, "La liturgie de Jerusalem a l'epoque
byzantine," pp. 159-164. A book-length study devoted to the festival is a desideratum.
M. Black, ''The Festival ofEncaenia Ecclesiae in the Ancient Church with Special Reference to Palestine and Syria," Journal of Ecclesiastical History 5 (1954) 78-85; favor
Hanukkah as background, as does S. Verbelst. I would like to express my great appreciation to Stephane Verhelst for making available to me material- by now probably in print
- before its publication.
13
John 10:22-42 (Jesus on Hanukkah in Jerusalem) on the first day and lCor 1:18-24
(the foolishness of the cross) on the second day in all witnesses of the ancient Jerusalem
lectionary; Mark 11:15--18 (the "Cleansing" of the temple) in the Lathal manuscript of
the Old Georgian Lectionary on the fourth day: see Tarchnischvili, Legrand lectionnaire
de l'iglise de Jerusalem, No 1253; also John 2:12-22 in the old Armenian witnesses V
and W: see Renoux, Le Lectionnaire de Jerusalem en Arminie, PO 48:2:239.
295
seventh centuries, 14 proscribe verses like "blessed are those who dwell in
your house for ever and ever singing your praise," 15 or "we ponder your
mercy, 0 God, in the midst of your temple." 16 Considering that the recital
took place in J.erusalem's new central sanctuary, most people certainly understood the Martyrion to be Solomon's temple, just as did Egeria. Fifry
years after Egeria, Sozomenos makes the equation explicit: "The temple
( va6<;), called the "Great Martyrium," which was built in the place of the
skull at Jerusalem, was completed about the thirtieth year of the reign of
Constantine." 17 While this terminology was used also for other church
buildings, it is particularly true for the Martyrion. 18 Egeria's explicit reference to the dedication of Solomon's temple and the various temple readings of the Old Armenian Lectionary demonstrate that the participants and
the makers of the liturgy were conscious of this relationship at least in the
last quarter of the fourth century. In addition, two other verses of the readings may well have been chosen as polemical puns against the contemporary Sukkot, mocking "those Jews" in their tents: "I would rather
choose to be thrown aside in the house of God than live in the tents of the
sinners"; 19 and "I divide Sichem, and the valley of the tents I distribute."20
As we know from Chrysostom, such metaphors were used in Christian
anti-Jewish sermons polemicizing against Sukkot.21 Yet Sukkot is not the
only Jewish festival with possible connections to the Encaenia.
The first to suggest an influence of Yom Kippur on the Encaenia was
Jan van Goudoever. 22 After him, Michel van Esbroeck proposed to see
Yom Kippur as background to a homily, which he suggests to be by
John II of Jerusalem, on the dedication of the church of Zion on the third
day of the Encaenia.23 More recently, Michael Fraser has made an exten14 On the Encaenia, the Exaltation of the Cross and the manuscripts Vienna 285 (V)
and Vienna 3 (W), see Renoux, Le Lectionnaire de Jerusalem en Arminie, PO 48:2:127135.
15
Ps 83:5 LXX, read on Wednesdays: see Renoux, Le Lectionnaire de Jerusalem en
Arminie, PO 48:2:240.
16
Ps 47:10 LXX., read on Thursdays: see Renoux, Le Lectionnaire de Jerusalem en
Arminie, PO 48:2:241.
17
History of the Church 2:26; trans!. NPNF. For the Greek text ofBidez with French
translation, see Festugiere, Grillet and Sabbab, pp. 346--349.
IS See above, pp. 271-272.
19 Ps 83:1lb LXX, read on Wednesday.
2
a Ps 59:8b LXX, read on Sunday.
21
Chrysostom, Against the Jews 7:1 (PG 48:915).
22
See van Goudoever, Biblical Calendars, p. 211.
23
SeeM. van Esbroeck, "Jean II de Jerusalem et les cultes deS. Etienne, de la SainteSian et de Ia Croix," Analecta Bollandtana 102 (1984) 99-134; and idem, "Une homelie
sur l'Eglise attribuee a Jean de Jerusalem," Le Museon 86 (1973) 283-304.
296 The impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the Third to the Fifth Centuries
sive claim for the influence of Yom Kippur on the date of the dedication
festival. 24
Discerning the latent influences of either Sukkot or Yom Kippur is very
difficult. Both festivals take place at the same time of year. In the Second
Temple period, both focused on the temple, and it is the temple dedication,
not the practice of constructing booths or dancing with lulavim, that
influenced the Encaenia. 25 Yet six observations- regarding sacred time,
sacred place, the purpose and content of the Encaenia/Exa!tation rites and
some Jewish reactions - refer specificallyto Yom Kippur.
First, in the templization of church buildings, the most sacred space in
the church of the Martyrion is the first to be called holy ofholies. 26 Doing
so evokes the sacred geography of Yom Kippur's rituaL-In addition, in
Jeromes's comparison of the cave to the holy of holies, he underscores that
like the adytnm of the former Jewish temple, it is a special place for supplicatory prayers but that unlike the latter the cave can be freely entered. 27
However, the holy of holies is not used on days other than Yom Kippur.
Second, while any date close to Sukkot is also close to Yom Kippur, in
fact, as M. Fraser has calculated, the actual dedication of the Martyrion on
13 September 335 28 most probably coincided with that year's Yom Kippur.29 Was this a coincidence or deliberate?30 Many scholars prefer to
24
See Fraser, "Constantine and the Encaenia."

Is the rite of raising the cross in three (later four) directions taking up a theme of the
lulav ritual? Palm Swtday, perhaps also Epiphany, is reminiscent ofSukkot: see Verhelst,
"La Iiturgie de Jerusalem a l'epoque byzantine," pp. 79 and 225-226.
26
See above, p. 271.
27
See Jerome, Letter 46:13; Letter 108:9.
28
A nwnber of scholars doubt that the dedication took place on 13, 14, 15 or 17 SepM
tember. The last date found in the Chronicon Paschale is most probably a scribal error
(Verhelst, pp. 160-162, however, argues in favor of accepting it). 15 September is transM
mitted by the pilgrim Theodosius. This may be a return to the biblical model of Sukkot.
13 and 14 September are equally well attested. A detailed discussion can be found in e.g.
van Tongeren, "Yom Kreuzritus zur Kreuzestheologie," pp. 222-226.
29
Fraser, "Constantine and the Encaenia."
30
Verhelst, "La liturgic de Jerusalem a repoque byzantine," p. 161, note 17, who is
very careful in computing dates and tends to favor Jewish or Jewish-Christian influences,
discards Fraser's calculation as "aleatoire." However, we are on quite reliable ground.
Yom Kippur always falls in a certain moon phase between new moon and full moon. This
astronomical constellation fits only 13 September, plus/minus one or two days for
manual observation mistakes. For this date, following close upon Rosh Hashanah, it is
hardly conceivable that the Jewish astronomers would so seriously have miscalculated
the leap year that Rosh Hashanah would have fallen a whole lunar month either earlier
(15 August) or later (13 October), since this would have seriously confused the ritual and
agricultural life. For a Yom Kippur on 13 October, Rosh Hashanah would have had to
occur on 3 October. Dershowitz and Reingold's calendar program gives 27 September as
25
297
follow Ildefons Herwegen's suggestion (publicized by Anton Baumstark)

that Constantine chose the date of the Encaenia over and against the Ides
of September and the ludi Romani, which commemorate the dedication of
the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitol, in order to manifest the Christianization of Aelia Capitolina, the city of the gods of the
Capitol. 31 An anti-pagan determination of the date of the Encaenia is
indeed probable. But does this exClude an anti-Jewish one? Even if one
adopts the view that Constantine did not betray anti-Jewish attitudes, Jerusalem's Church officials certainly did. 32 Furthermore, the structure of the
Encaenia is molded on the biblical model, not the pagan. It is celebrated
during eight days, not fourteen as in the earlier version of the ludi or four
as in the later one. 33 Oded Irshai and E.D. Hunt have independently
suggested the interesting hypothesis that the anti-Jewish stance is a later
local, ecclesiastical development veering away from Constantine's
originally anti-pagan direction. 34 Yet even if the typology to Solomon's
temple dedication, preserved in Egeria's report, was introduced only in the
time of Cyril of Jerusalem, the length of the festival, given as eight days, is
original and points to a conscious typology of the biblical chronology at
the outset. Furthermore, as noted in the previous paragraph, Eusebius
already called Jesus' tomb "holy of holies," a clear allusion to the
substitution for the temple. Therefore, also geographically, the temple
typology was part of Christian consciousness from the beginning. These
observations do not contradict the chronological sequence of attitudes
the latest possible date for Rosh Hashanah in the Julian calendar of the third/fourth century CE (and 28 August as the earliest possible one). We can therefore be quite certain
that in 335 Yom Kippur fell on 13 September( two days for an observational error), i.e.
it coincided with the dedication day of the new Christian "temple." Yet this is only a
small point in the argumentation, and the observation is valid mainly for the year of inception of the ritual (though, naturally, Yom Kippur and Suk:kot are always celebrated
quite close to the Encaenia and the Exaltation of the Cross).
31 Baumstark, Comparative Liturgy, p. 203.
n Irshai, "Constantine and the Jews," p. 172, opts for a primarily anti-pagan orientation.
33
See H.H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic (London,
1981), pp. 183-186, on the Ludi Romani 5-19 September, and pp. 186-187 on the
dedication of the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. See also the calendar at the end of
K. Latte, Romische Re/i'gionsgeschichte (Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft 5/4;
Munich, 1960).
34 Irshai, "Constantine and the Jews," p. 172. Hunt, "Constantine and Jerusalem,"
p. 422, does not refer to Irshai's paper in Hebrew, published only shortly before Hunt's.
proposed by lrshai and Hunt, but they make the chronological aspect of
their hypothesis less likely.35
Third, a reading of the Old Georgian Lectionary for the third day recalls
a theme related to Yom Kippur, the high-priestly service of Jesus in Hebrews 8:7-9:10. 36 An Armenian Lectionary for the fifth day of the Encaenia - preserved by one old manuscript, which, according to the editor,
Charles Renoux, reflects Jerusalem's liturgy before the eighth century and
perhaps as early as the fourth37 - picks up the same theme, reading Hebrews 3:1--{i on the fourth day and Hebrews 9:11-16 on the fifth. 38 This
juxtaposition of the Christian interpretation of the Day of Atonement with
the date of Yom Kippur may point to a consciousness on the part of Christians about the proximity of the Jewish fast.
Fourth, the cross, the central object of the festival, is the Christian symbol for atonement. This fact finds expression in the liturgy in the adoration
and elevation of the cross. The earliest explicit source for the ritual adoration of the cross on the second day of the Encaenia is the Old Armenian
Lectionary. Egeria may have known of such a rite. 39 The earliest description of the rite of elevation of the cross in the Old Georgian Lectionary
prescribes an extremely long sequence of 50 Kyrie Eleison by the congregation upon each of the elevations of the cross by the celebrant."" Such a
mantra for mercy is conceivable, particularly in view of the special atoning
force ascribed to the True Cross. While it is not certain that the cross was
part of the liturgy in the actual dedication of the Church in 335, it had a
35
In an oral communication, Oded Irshai stated that today he regards an influence of
Sukkot as more feasible than he did in 1995.
36
Tarchnischvili, Legrand /ectionnaire de /'iglise de Jerusalem, N 1249.
37
See above, p. 295, note14.
38
Renoux, Le Lectionnaire de Jerusalem en Arminie PO 48:2:240. The Old Georgian
Lectionary reads Heb 8:7-9:10 on the third day: see Tarchnischvili, Le grand lectionnaire de I 'iglise de Jerusalem, N 1247-1250.
39
Egeria describes an adoration of this kind only on Good Friday. Given the pivotal
place Egeria ascribes to the cross in the Encaenia, either she omitted an already existing
adoration rite from her description, or the rite may have been performed on one of the
later days of the Encaenia, which are not part of the extant text of the fragment. In any
case, we cannot be sure that she was unaware of such a rite during the Encaenia.
40
Lathal manuscript: see Tarchnischvili, Legrand lectionnaire de /'iglise de Jerusalem, No 1240 in the notes. Verhelst, "La liturgie de Jerusalem a l'epoque byzantine,"
p. 163, examining the data of the Georgian lectionaries speaks of an earlier layer of three
elevations of the cross and four in the later tradition. According to ms Oxford 30322
(Codex Auct. E. 5.10) from the fourteenth century, the cross is lifted three times in all
four directions. According toms Oxford 30322, the Kyrie is repeated 100 times, then 80
times and finally 60 times: see Mateos, Le typicon de Ia grande eg/ise, vol. L p. 41,
note 2.
299
crucial function as a relic of atonement from Cyril's time on. 41 Moreover,

there is an ambivalent tension between the cross and Jews in Christian and
Jewish texts. In some of the legends of the cross's discovery a Jew plays
the ambivalent role of keeper of the secret tradition of the location of
Christ's tomb and concealer of it.42 According to van Esbroeck, the first
staurophylax, Porphyry, appointed in the time of John II of Jerusalem, was
a Jewish Christian.43 In Christian conciousness, the cross became a visible
token of Christianity's supersession of and superiority to Judaism.44
Polemics against the cross (fY), in rabbinic literature and in piyyutim, show
the Jews' awareness of the importance of this artefact and its theological
significance. 45
Fifth, the focus on the concept of atonement and the adoption of temple
geography are connected in a homily, published by van Esbroeck46
41
See Cyril of Jerusalem, Epistula ad Constantium 3 (ed. Bihain p. 287); Catecheses 4:10; 10:19; 13:4. Some scholars doubt that the cross was already there before the
dedication, since Eusebius does not mention it: see Hunt, Constantine and Jerusalem,"
pp. 415-416. Hunt bases his view on the silence of Eusebius and the testimony of the
pilgrim of Bordeaux. However, the discovery may have been made after the pilgrim's
visit in 333 but before 335. Moreover, Ze'ev Rubin has convincingly argued that Eusebius had his reasons for passing over Jerusalem's artifact of ritual power. The discovery
was closely connected to Makarius, the competitor for the hegemony of Eusebius'
Caesarea: see Z. Rubin, "The Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Conflict between the
Sees of Caesarea and Jerusalem," in: L.I. Levine (ed.), The Jerusalem Cathedra 2 (Jerusalem, Detroit, 1982; pp. 79-105). The argument is continued in z_ Rubin, "The Cult of
the Holy Places and Christian Politics in Byzantine Jerusalem," in: L.l. Levine (ed.),
Jerusalem- Its Sanctity and Centrality to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (New York,
1999; pp. 151-162); see also J.W. Drijvers, Helena Augusta. The Mother of Constantine
the Great and the Legend of Her Finding the True Cross (Brill's Studies in Intellectual
History 27; Leiden, 1992), pp. 81-93; and H.A. Drake, "Eusebius on the True Cross,"
Journal of Ecclesiastical History 36 (1985} 1-22. The wide and early distribution of
parts of the relic of the True Cross and the mention already by CyrjJ of Jerusalem of the
finding of the cross under Constantine make an Jnventio Crucis after the construction of
the churches rather unlikely - not to mention the technical difficulties of such excavations at such late a point.
42 Cf. van Tongeren, "Vom K.reuzritus zur K.reuzestheologie," PP- 219-222; Drijvers,
Helena Augusta, part II, particularly chapter 6.
43
Cf. van Esbroeck, "Jean II de Jerusalem et les cultes de S. Etienne, de Ia SainteSian et de Ia Croix," pp. 112-113.
44
Cf. Drijvers, Helena Augusta, p. 187.
45
See e.g. the passage quoted above, p. 285; and Schwartz, "The Encaenia of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Temple of Solomon and the Jews."
46 He published the Armenian text and a Latin translation in: van Esbroeck, "Une
homelie sur l':Eglise attribuee a Jean de Jerusalem." His more recent article includes a
French translation: see van Esbroeck, "Jean II de Jerusalem et les cultes deS. Etienne, de
Ia Sainte-Sion et de Ia Croix," PP- 115-125.
According to him this homily is connected to the dedication of the new
church on Mount Zion and was delivered by John II of Jerusalem (3864 I 7) on the third day of the Encaenia, one day after the Exaltation of the
Cross (15 September 394). 47 If van Esbroeck's dating of the dedication is
correct,48 the last day of the week of Encaenia (20 September), coincided
with the eve of Yom Kippur. 49 Moreover, the homily focuses on the propitiatory (ml~)), the central object of the Yom Kippur sprinkling rite in
Leviticus, Hebrews, Romans and the Mishnah. Indeed, John states his
intention as being "to narrate worthily with holy words that mystery of this
holy propitiatory (pmunpmh) and that divine dwelling betrothed through
the prayers of all saints."" Therefore, the homily is best understood
against the background of the Day of Atonement. 5 1
Finally, an Armenian text from about the seventh century mentions a
fast for the festival of the cross claiming its origin is Jerusalemite praxis. 52
47
The Clavis Patrum Graecorum continues to list the homily under dubia.
For his arguments, see van Esbroeck, "Jean II de Jerusalem et les cultes deS. Etienne, de Ia Sainte-Sian et de Ia Croix," pp. 109-112.
49
According to the calendar-computation program by Nachum Dershowitz and Edward Reingold (http://emr.cs.uiuc.edu/home/reingold/calendar-book/index.shtml).
50
My translation of section 23. For the Armenian text, see van Esbroeck, "Une homelie sur l'Eglise attribuee a Jean de Jerusalem," p. 292. John describes eight spheres (1)
the divine ether, (2) heavenly Jerusalem, (3) the Garden of Eden, (4) the arch of Shem
and Noah, (5) Mount Moriah, (6) Mount Sinai, (7) the temple and (8) the Church. Most
of the sections on each sphere end with a statement on the mediating power of the holy
propitiatory (barekhawsout'eamb sourb k'avaranis) (1,2,3,4,7 and 8). The passage on
Mount Moriah (5) ends with a blessing on the foundation stone of the church. The passage on Mount Sinai ends with the warning not to bring alien fire near, picking up the
story ofNadab and Avihu (Lev 10; 16:1): see van Esbroeck, ..Jean II de Jerusalem et les
cultes deS. Etienne, de Ia Sainte-SiOn et de Ia Croix," pp. 121-123.
51
Van Esbroeck, "Jean II de Jerusalem et les cultes de S. Etienne, de la Sainte-Sian et
de Ia Croix," pp. 111-112. Van Esbroeck also explains two remarks on fasting (section 71) and penitence (section 51) as allusions to Yom Kippur: see van Esbroeck, p. 120,
note 88 and p. 122, note 96. While these remarks contribute to the atmosphere of atonement, they remain very general and do not use any of the biblical Yom Kippur passages.
52
See the texts by Step'anos Siwnec'i (sixth or seventh century) published by E. Petrosyan in Ejmiazin 41 (1984) 44--50 (non vidz), mentioned by Renoux, Le Lectionnaire
de Jerusalem en Armenie, PO 44:4, p. 434, note 11. However, Renoux reminds us that
this praxis is not mentioned in any of the Armenian lectionaries prior to the thirteenth
century. On p. 468, in note 21, he lists five manuscripts from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries mentioning five days of fast from Monday to Friday prior to the Encaenia on Saturday and the festival of the cross on Sunday. This fast is still an obligation in
the modem Greek Church: see Hallit, "La Croix dans le rite byzantin," pp. 290-292;
Mercenier and Paris, La priere des eglises de rite byzantin, pp. 33-35. Unfortunately,
they do not specify when this practice was introduced. I would like to thank Stephane
Verhelst for drawing my attention to the Armenian text.
48
301
What kind of Sukkot/Yom Kippur influenced the emergence of the Encaenia/Exaltation of the Cross? The parallel elements in the Christian and
Jewish festivals point to the biblical background with the temple, not to the
contemporaneous way of celebrating Sukkot by building booths and
parading with lulavim. The only contemporaneous ritual influence could be
the fast of the Exaltation, but I do not know when the Christians introduced this fast. We have here, then, a special form of"book.ish" influence.
However, the dedication of a church, even as central as the Holy Sepulcher, does not in itself explain the establishment of a yearly festival that
attracted the attention of so many people. How can the sudden rise of the
Encaenia in fourth-century Jerusalem be explained?
I suggest two factors that sparked the emergence of the Encaenia at this
place and time: the Ortsgeist of the Holy Land and the challenge of contemporary Judaism's festivals. I consider the main factor to be the Ortsgeist of the Holy Land, the influence exerted by the symbolic language of
the Holy Land on its rulers. Accordingly, in the fourth century, the consecration of the new central sanctuary of the rulers of the land of the Bible
followed the mythological consecration ceremony of the land's temple,
linked to Solomon, Bezalel and the date of Sukkot.
The challenge of the festivals of contemporary Judaism is a possible
second factor. The Homilies on Leviticus by Origen and the polemical passages in the Sidrei Avodah show the tension over Yom Kippur and atonement between Christians and Jews in the third and fourth centuries,
especially in Palestine. Chrysostom's orations Against the Jews from Antioch, delivered only fifty years after the dedication of the Holy Sepulcher,
attest to the same friction. He assembles his flock for an exceptional prayer
service on Yom Kippur to keep Christians from attending the Jewish
service. 53 Furthermore, there are some hints of a Jewish reaction to the
proximity of the Encaenia to Sukkot. Joshua Schwartz has suggested that
the Christian festival caused a transformation of Jewish exegetical traditions regarding the construction of the Third Temple, the time of which
was postponed from Tishri (the month of the Encaenia) to Heshvan. 54
Therefore, even if the Jewish community of fourth-century Jerusalem and
its environs was very small and probably rather clandestine, 55 and most
53
W. Pradels, R. Brandle and M. Heimgartner, "The Sequence and Dating of John
Chrysostom's Eight Discourses Adversus ludaeos," Zeitschrift for Antike und Christentum 6 (2002) 90-116, here p. 95.
54
Schwartz, "The Encaenia of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Temple of Solomon and the Jews."
55 Cf. G. Sternberger, Jews and Christians in the Holy Land. Palestine in the Fourth
Century (Edinburgh, 2000), pp. 17-21 and 40-43.
inhabitants of the city were pagan, Judaism and its rituals remained an
ideological challenge. The same is true of the Jewish Christian community.56 Cyril of Jerusalem's warnings not to follow Jewish practices attest
that Jerusalem Christians felt continuously threatened by the attractiveness
of Jewish ritual (even in its traditional baptism catechesis). Moreover,
Galilee, with its dense Jewish population, cannot have failed to have an
impact on Christian pilgrims to and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Yet the
tension over the rituals of contemporary Judaism explains only the location, not the time of the appearance of the Encaenia. The biblical character of the Encaenia, which focuses on the temple with its holy of holies
and its atoning function, could be a Christian challenge to the temple-less
Jewish interpretation of the Sukkot commandments ~mphasizing booths
and lulavim instead of the sanctuary.
In sum, the parallels between the Encaenia/Exaltation of the Cross and
Sukk.ot are impressive. The Encaenia, one of three central pilgrimage festivals, is celebrated for eight days in the seventh month and commemorates
the dedication of the sanctuary. The sanctuary is called "the temple" and
appropriates various legends originally associated with the Jewish temple.
Six further observations may bespeak an additional influence of Yom
Kippur: The cave of the Holy Sepulcher was revered as the holy of holies;
13 September 335 probably coincided with 10 Tishri; Hebrews 9, with its
description of Jesus' high-priestly ritual, is read during the Encaenia; the
cross liturgy focuses on atonement; John's dedication homily focuses on
the kapporet; and Christians fast on the festival of the cross, a practice
probably originating from Jerusalem in early times. 57
The main factor underlying the introduction of this dedication festival,
modeled on the biblical type, was most probably the new status of the
Bible as an ideological model for reforming the political reality and its expression in religious symbols by the (now) Christian authorities of fourthcentury Palestine. The Christianizers of Palestine had to follow their myth,
which encompassed both the New Testament and the Old. The symbolical
expression of political power over the earthly Jerusalem could be expressed only in terms of the Old Testament, with its temple, King Solomon,
Sukkot and Yom Kippur.
56
G. Stroumsa, "'Vetus Israel': Les juifs dans la littterature hierosolymitaine d'epoque byzantine," Revue de /'histoire des religions 205 (1988) 115-131, includes a number
of very suggestive passages on the existence of a Jewish Christian community. Stemberger, Jews and Christians in the Holy Land, pp. 71-81 and 111-114, on the other hand,
is much more hesitant.
57
Fraser mentions the second, fourth and fifth points; van Esbroeck the fifth.
303
A second, more marginal factor was the concurrent situation of Palestinian Christianity in the land of the Jews and the appeal of the Jewish rites
to outsiders, pagans, Christians and potential converts.
2. The Fast of the Seventh Month (Ember Day of September)

and Yom Kippur
The Fast of the Seventh Month (Ember Day of September), one of the
major Christian liturgical events of fifth-century Rome, has been much
researched. 58 While some scholars have pointed to Yom Kippur as background, 59 the opinio communis regards its influence as biblical at the most.
I will argue that the links between Yom Kippur and the Roman Fast of the
Seventh Month are more numerous and closer than was previously
thought. Our understanding of the promotion of the festival by Leo in the
fifth century can be significantly enhanced by taking into consideration not
only the biblical but also the contemporary Yom Kippur. 60
58
See G. Morin, "L'origine des Quatre--Temps," Revue Binidictine 14 (1897) 337346; L. Fischer, Die kirchlichen Quatember. Jhre Entstehung, Entwicklung und Bedeutung in liturgischer, rechtlicher und kulturhistorischer Hinsicht (Veri:Sffentlichungen aus
dem kirchenhistorischen Seminar Miinchen IV. Reihe Nr. 3; Munich, 1914); K. Holl,
"Die Entstehung der vier Fastenzeiten in der griechischen Kirche," in: Gesamme/te Aufstttze. Vol. 2. Der Osten (TUbingen, 1928; pp. 155-203); J. Schiimmer, Die altchristliche
Fastenpraxis, mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung der Schriften Tertu/lians (Milnster,
1933); J. Danielou, "Les Quatre-Temps de septembre et la fete des Tabernacles," La
Maison-Dieu 46 (1956) 114-136; J. Janini, S. Siricio y las cuatro temporas. una investigacion sobre las fuentes de /a espiritualidad seglar y del Sacramentario Leoniano. Leecion inaugural del curso 1958-59 (Valencia, 1958); G.G. Willis, "Ember Days," in:
idem, Essays in Early Roman Liturgy (Alcuin Club Collections 46; London, 1964;
pp. 49-97); A. Chavasse, "Le sermon III de saint Leon et la date de la celebration des
Quatre-Temps de septembre," Revue des sciences religieuses 44 (1970) 77-84; T.J.
Talley, "The Origin of the Ember Days. An Inconclusive Postscript," in: Rituels (Melanges P.-M Gy) (Paris, 1990; pp. 465-472); J.-L. Verstrepen, "Origines et instauration
des Quatre-Temps a Rome," Revue Benedictine 103 (1993) 339-365. For handbook sections, see A. Chavasse, "Les Quatre-Temps," in: A.G. Martimort (ed.), L'iglise en
Priere.lntroduction aIa Liturgie (Paris, Tournai, Rome, New York, 1965; pp. 758-767);
H. Auf der Maur.,Feiern im Rhythmus der Zeit. Herrenfeste in Woche und Jahr (Gottesdienst der Kirche. Handbuch der Liturgiewissenschaft 5/1; Regensburg, 1983); A. Nocent, "Le quattro tempora," in: M. Auge et al. (eds.), AnOmnesis. Vo/6: L 'anno liturgica:
storia teologia e celebrazione (Genoa, 1988; pp. 263-266).
59
In the past century, this thesis has been most prominently defended by Fischer, Die
kirchlichen Quatember, p. 7, and SchOmmer, Die altchristliche Fastenpraxis.
60
St5kl Ben Ezra, "Whose Fast Is It?'' was based on a previous version of this chapter.
Three kinds of sources are available for the early understanding of the fast:
The main source is the nine Sermons by Leo the Great (440--461) on the
fast of September. 61 They are supplemented by short notes in various
62
sources The Codex Verona Bib/. Capit. LXXXV (80), traditionally known
as the Sacramentarium Leonianum or Sacramentarium Veronense preserves prayers predating the seventh century;63 and the Epistolary of Wurzburg (seventh to eighth centuries) aud the Comes of Alcuin (eighth
century) give evidence for liturgical readings on the Ember Days in the
Roman Church going back at least that far. 64
2.1 The Origin of the Solemn Fasts

Today, the term Ember Days (Latin quattuor temporum, French QuatreTemps, German Qua/ember) refers to a series of fasts observed after four
holidays: the first Sunday in Lent, Pentecost, Holy Cross Day (in September) aud St. Lucia (13 December). They include fasts on the Wednesday
and Fnday aud a night vigil from Saturday to Sunday65 However, the late
antique version of the fast is quite different from the modern one. 66 First,
61
There are also nine sermons on the fast of December and four on the Pentecostal
fast. I used the edition by A. Chavasse, Sancti Leonis Magni Romani Pontificis Tractatus
Septem et Nonaginta (2 vols; CCSL 138-I38A; Tumhout, 1973); English translation by
Conway and Freeland, St. Leo the Great: Sermons; French translation by R. Dolle, Leon
le ?rand Sermorz: (4 vols; S~ 22, 49, 74, 20?; Paris, ~964, 1969, 1971, 1973).
6
E.g. Tertulhan, On Fastmg 14:2-3; Phtlaster, Drversarum Hereseon Liber 149; as
well as the anonymous Liber Pontificalis and De so/stitiis. These sources will be discussed below.
63
The Sacramentarium Veronense was edited in the seventh century, but the prayers
are older. I used L. EizenhOfer, P. Siffrin and L.C. Mohlberg (eds.). Sacramentarium Ver~nense (Cod[ex] Bibl[ioteca] Capit[olare] Veron[ensis} LXXXV [80]) (RerumEcclesiastlcarum Documenta, series maior Fontes [Sacramentarium Leonianum] 1; Rome, 3 1978),
pp. 108-ll4.
64
The data have been conveniently assembled by A. Chavasse, Les lectionnaires rom~ins de Ia Messe au VIle et VJ/le siec/es (2 vols; Spicilegii Friburgensis Subsidia 22;
Fnb~urg, 1993), vol. 2, pp. 11-21 for the Epistle readings and pp. 25-38 for the Gospel
readmgs.Cf. the tables in G. Godu, "Epitres," Dictionnaire de /'archeologie chretienne
et liturgie 511 (1922) 245-344; and H. Leclerq, "Lectionnaire,'' Dictionnaire de
l'archeologie chretienne et liturgie 8:2 (1929) 2270--2306.
65
Antoine Chavasse argues that the Sunday, being the beginning of the. week, should
also be understood as being part of the Solemn Fasts: see his "Le sermon III de saint
Leon et la date de la celebration des Quatre-Temps de septembre," p. 79.
66
On the modem Ember Days, see R.E. McNally, "Ember Days," New Catholic
Encyclopedio 5 ( 1967) 296-298.
305
the name changed. 67 I employ the names used by Leo I aud Gelasius I to
avoid anachronistic terminology: ieiunium so/lemne (Solemn Fast) for the
series of fasts; or ieiunium quatri/septimi/decimi mensis (Fast of the
Fourth/Seventh/Tenth Month) for a single fast. 68 Second, the exact dates of
the fasts were assigned only in the eleventh century, by Pope Gregory VII;
until then, their dates varied greatly 69 Third, most scholars agree that the
Ember Day of Lent did not belong to the original series of fasts; some
would even exclude the Ember Day after Pentecost. Consequently, scholars - especially those writing in French- often speak of Trois-Temps or
Deux-Temps instead of Quatre-Temps. Fourth, the ancient festival was far
more important than the modem rite suggests. 7 Finally, it was practiced in
the beginning solely in the city of Rome and was only gradually adopted in
other countries.
The exact time of origin of the Solemn Fasts has been the subject of numerous books and articles.71 The universally accepted terminus ante quo is
the flrst major extant source, the sermons of Leo, in whose time the festival was already well established. Three periods are proposed for its origin:
67 The English name Ember Days is an abbreviation of the German Quatember, itself
an abbreviation of the Latin {ieiunia) quattuor temporum, which appeared for the first
time in the eighth century.
68 For a similar decision, see Verstrepen, "Origines et instauration des Quatre-Temps a
Rome." In fact, Leo uses the term Fast of Pentecost. From Gelasius on, the terminology
becomes unified and the fast after Pentecost is called the Fast of the Fourth Month. The
lectionaries use another tenn to refer to the vigil: sabbatum in duodecim lectiones, which
remained in use until the twelfth century. This name derives from the custom of reading
the six lections frrst in Greek then again in Latin, under the Greek domination of Rome
(550-750). See A. Chavasse (ed.), Le SacFamentaire gf}/asien (Vaticanus Reginensis
316), sacramentaire presbyteral en usage dans les titres romains au VIle siJcle
(Bibliotheque de Theologie, serie 4/1; Tournai, 1958), 107-110.
69 Antoine Chavasse has shown that the date of the "Deux-Temps" of September and
December was much more variable than previously thought; e.g. the Fast of December
could be celebrated after Christmas. See Chavasse, "Le sernton III de saint Leon et la
date de la ctH6bration des Quatre-Temps de septembre."
70 In the earliest Sacramentary, the Veronense, the prayers for the Fast of the Seventh
Month extend over as many pages as Christmas, and more pages than Pentecost. Its
importance increased even further when it was gradually introduced all over Europe.
71
On this question, see Chavasse, "Le sermon III de saint Leon et la date de la
celebration des Quatre-Temps de septembre"; Danielou, "Les Quatre-Temps de septembre et Ia tete des Tabernacles"; Fischer, Die kirchlichen Quatember; Janini, S. Siricio
y las cuatro temporas; Morin, "L'origine des Quatre-Temps"; and most recently Talley,
"The Origin of the Ember Days"; and Verstrepen, "Origines et instauration des QuatreTemps aRome."
,.,-,.
the time of the apostles (first/second century), the late second or early third
century and the late fourth century.
Some scholars, especially from the early modem period, regard the Solemn Fasts as an apostolic continuation of an Old Testament practice, taking literally some statements in Leo's sermons. 72 However, Leo's
formulations may have meant "traditional" in a wide sense rather than "apostolic" in a n~ow sense. 73 Furthermore, his statements clearly served a
rhetorical function. With the attribution to the apostles, Leo wanted to
foster the authority and observance of the fasts, which are considered a Judaizing practice.
The time of Pope Siricius (384-399) was suggested by Jose Janini
whose theory is favored by some major liturgists, among them HansjOrg
Auf der Maur. 74 Janini based his thesis mainly on Jerome and on Philaster
of Brixen (d. ca. 397), who supposedly polemicized against the Roman
Solemn Fasts. 75 Yet, as Jean-Louis Verstrepen has shown, Janini's reading
of Jerome is quite speculative, and the most relevant polemical passage is
aimed at Jews observing Yom Kippur and against Christians participating
in it in Syria-Palestine (where Jerome lived) rather than being a polemic
against the Roman fasts far fmm Bethlehem. 76 Philaster, who describes a
group that keeps four fasts according to Zechariah 8:19 and employs the
term quatuor tempora (the first occurrence of this term),77 does not support
I anini's thesis. Philaster;s dates do not match those of the Roman Solemn
Fasts, and his term quatuor tempora does not refer to the Solemn Fasts. 78
Thomas Talley and Jean-Louis Verstrepen revived the traditional theory
of an origin of the Solemn Fasts in the late second or early third century
n Sermons 78:1; 79:1~2; 81:1 (Pentecost); 89:1.4; 90:1; 92:1.4; 93:3 (September);
15:2; 17:1; 20:1 (December).
73
See Janini in Verstrepen, "Origines et instauration des Quatre-Temps a Rome/'
pp. 347-349.
74
Janini, S. Siricio y las cuatro temporas; Auf der Maur, Feiern im Rhythmus der
Zeit.
75
Jerome, Commentary on Galatians 4:10 (PL 26:377~378); Letter 52:10 (CSEL
54:432--433); Commentary on Zechariah 8:18-19 (CCSL 76A:820); Philaster, Diversarum Hereseon Liber 149 (CSEL 38:120-121).
76
Cf. Verstrepen, "Origines et instauration des Quatre-Temps a Rome~" pp. 353-357
and the passages discussed there, esp. Commentary on Galatians 4:10.
11
Diversarum Hereseon Liber 149: absolute praedicauit, ut mysteria Christianitatis
in ips is quattuor ieiuniis nuntiata cognosceremus. Nam per annum quattuor ieiunia in ecc/esia ce/ebrantur, in natale primum deinde in pascha, tertia in ascensione, quarto in
pentecosten (CSEL 38:120:24-121:4 [Friedrich Marx 1888]). This text was written 385~
391.
78
Verstrepen, "Origines et instauration des Quatre-Temps
a Rome," pp. 341-343.
II
I'
307
follow~g a statement in the Liber Pontifica/is about Callistus I, bishop of

Rome m 217-222:
He decreed that on Saturdays three times a Year there sho 1d b
f t fr
wine and oil according to the prophecy.79
u
e a as om com,
While agreeing that the part of the Liber P ontifica/is dealing with the history before Anastasius II (496-498) is generally legendary so Talley tries to
corroborate the Liber with a passage in Tertullian' s On Fdsting.
Why do we devote
to, Stations the fourth and
, t
.
. sixth days of th eweek ,and t O.tass
the 'preparation-day ? Anyhow, you sometunes continue your Stat"ton even over
the Sabbath, - a day never to be
. kept as a fast except at th e passover season, according to a reason elsewhere given. 11
Tertullian polemicizes against "Psychics" (most probably to be understood

as Roman non-Mo_ntanists), who extend the Weekly station fasting from
Wednesday and Fnday t~, Saturday. Talley emphasizes Tertullian's use of
"sometimes (si quando). These Psychics do not fast every Saturday but
only during certain weeks:- perhaps the Solemn Fasts? Fasts on sarur'days
are extremely rare. Tertulhan refers to the pre-paschal fast as the only exception acceptable to him. From this passage one can gather that Tertullian
was polemicizing against an early form of the Roman Solemn Fasts.
79
Translation by ~- Da:is, The Book ~~Pontiffs (Liber pontijicalis): The Ancient
Biographies of the Ftrst _Nmety Roman Btshops to AD 715 (Translated Texts for Historians. Latin Series 5; Ltverpool, 198~), ~- _7 The Latin reads "Hie constituit ieiunium
die sabbati ter in anna fieri, frumentt, Vlnt et olei, secundum
h . ,
L D
i.T.t"trdt"
t
propettam.~.uchesne, Lib
e i er pontlifi~~a.ts. ex e, _m o uc 10n e .commentaire (reprint of original edi-
tion [1886-92] with add1tton

of a .thrrd volume; Pans,
.
. 1955-195?), herevo.
1 1,p. 141 . 1n
the eyes of a later copytst the Latm p~e was too Imprecise and he consequently added
"in the fourth, seventh and tenth months.
The "prophet" is usuafaslly understood as_referring to Zech 8:I 9 _However, Zechariah
explicitly mentions_Jour. ts. 1 suggest see~g a special tradition ofExod 23 :14-17 as
the "prophet" behmd thts pas_sage, resembl.mg the statement in de solstitiis: Initium
et o/eae
iuda in laerr
mens is frumentariae et vindemwe
. ..
. ertt
. . domui
(
l zam et gau d.tum e1 d"tes
festos_ mu~tos: .s~e.De solstltus_ et aequzn?ctus ed. Botte, pp. 95 :84-96 : 105 ). Note that
the tnparttte diVISIOn of the fruits and therr harvests are identical th tw t xts
so In any case, the statement in ~e ~iber P?ntificalis is witne~ toe theaU:de~tanding
of the origin of th~ Ember Days b~mg m the ttme of the compilation of the earliest part
of the Liber, the s1xth century. As m Leo, the Solemn Fast has an ancient and honorable
aura.
s1 On Fasting 14:2~3; translation by S. ThelwaU in ANF 4:tt 2 . The Latin reads: Cur
stationibus quartam
parasceuen.? Qu amquam uos
. et sextam sabbati
.
. dicamus et ieiuniis
.
etiam sabbatum, Sl quando, contmuatts, numquam msi in pascha ieiunandum secundum
rationem alibi redditam CCSL 1 (Gerlo) p. 1273:3-7.
Another possible reference to the Solemn Fasts is the enigmatic tractate

de solstitiis, 82 which refers to three fasts in the fourth, seventh and tenth
months 83 Following Lietzmann, Verstrepen places the text in fourthcentury Rome and states that de solstitiis is "un temoignage de 1' existence
de trois jefmes saisonniers dans l Eglise latine vers la moitie du IVe
siecle."84 There are several ways to connect the chronological equations in
the text with the Solemn Fasts. 85 However, a Roman provenance of de solstitiis is less than certain, which makes a conclusive interpretation of the
passage difficult.
In sum: While we can be sure that the introduction of the three fasts occurred well before Leo, we do not know the exact period. Talley has given
new support to the chronological aspect of the legend in the Liber Pontifica/is and the passages in Tertullian; less probably, de solstitiis may refer to
the Solemn Fasts. That the Fast of the Seventh Month was not mentioned
earlier, more often or more explicitly can be quite easily explained. The
fast may have existed in the time of Callistus and Tertullian without being
important enough to be noted more widely and not achieved its significance until Leo the Great. Against those who want to date the fast late, we
have to keep in mind that an arg.umentum e silentio, which is usually weak,
is even weaker in a field with such sporadic evidence as early Christian liturgy. Yet a decisive argument for the early dating has still not been
brought forward.
82 For further background infonnation on this tractate, see the different views in the
introduction to Batte's edition; and H. Engberding, "Der 25. Dezember als Tag der Feier
der Geburt des Herm," Archiv fiir Liturgiewissenschaft 2 (1952) 25-43.
33 "leiunium quartum et septimum et decimum erit domui iuda in laetitiam et gaudium
et solemnitates bonas et diemfestos multos": see De solstitiis et aequinoctiis, ed. Batte
p. 95:63-65.
84 Verstrepen, "Origines et instauration des Quatre-Temps a Rome," pp. 346--347,
~~~
85
The first, suggested by Verstrepen, understands the passage as referring to the

Solemn Fasts after Pentecost and in September and December. Two other interpretations
consider a second chronological equation, which speaks of the three temple pilgrimages
(n'7l1) in Nisan, Sivan (!) and Tishri, -"Quod si ergo ipse est initium anni, iam utique
ab ipso quartum mensem iunium numeraremus et septimum septembrem et decimum decembrem, de quibus dominus ad Moysen dicit: 'Tribus temporibus diem festum agetis
mihi' (Exod 23:14)": see De solstitiis et aequinoctiis, ed. Bone, p. 95:81-85- perhaps
referring to the pre-paschal fast and to the Solemn Fasts after Pentecost and in September. However, the author places the three Jewish festivals in June, September and
December; he was therefore probably referring to the three week-long festivals of
Passover, Sukkot and Hanukkah, in Nisan, Tishri and Kislev. In this case he would refer
to the pre-paschal fast and to the Solemn Fasts of September and December, which
would match weU the theory of an early "Deux-Temps."
309
Apart from the date of origin of the Solemn Fasts, the question of their religious background and context is of central importance for estimating the
impact of Yom Kippur on early Christianity, since, according to one of the
theories, the Solemn Fasts are transformations of Jewish fasts, including
Yom Kippur.
Until recently, most scholars and handbooks tended to accept Morin's
theory (1897) of a pagan origin for the Ember days. 86 Morin refers to the
three pagan Roman festivals offeriae sementivae,feriae messis andferiae
vindemiales that were Christianized. Belonging to the class of feriae
conceptivae, the date of the Christian fasts was not fixed but determined
each year anew. According to Morin the dates fell in the following periods:
the feriae sementivae - 11 November to 25 December; the feriae messis June-August; the feriae vindemiales -19 July to 25 September." Morin has
suggested that the Ember days were established in competition with or as a
substitute for and sublimation of these three feriae, part of "le desir de
faire concurrence a l'une ou l'autre solennite du ferial paien en vigueur a
Rome durant les premiers siecles de rere chretienne." 88 Morin's hypothesis
was the opinio communis for a hundred years, until recently refuted by
Talley, who showed that Morin, the great master of liturgy, had based his
theory on faulty research (by others) of the classical sources 89 Talley
pointed out that the feriae sementivae took place not in December but
rather at the end of January. Their date, therefore, does not match the Fast
of the Tenth Month. 90 While this suffices to overthrow Morin's hypothesis,
86 See e.g. Chavasse, "Les Quatre-Temps"; and Auf der Maur, Feiern im Rhythmus
der Zeit.
87
Morin gives a quite impressive list of similarities between these pagan Roman
feriae and the Ember Days: Both were originally restricted to the city of Rome. These
feriae are three in number, as were the original Ember Days. They are celebrated at the
same times of the year. They are not fixed in the calendar but determined by the priests.
They combine an agricultural basis with purification, expiation and apotropaic aspects.
Among the three festivals, the feriae sementivae are the most important. Similarly, the
Saturday of the December Ember Days was more important than the others and with
Simplicius became the only ordination day.
88
Morin, "L'origine des Quatre-Temps," here p. 341.
89
Talley, "The Origin of the Ember Days." The long prevalence of Morin's hypothesis may be an outcome of the increasing specialization of scholars, the Jack of communication among different fields of research and the seminal authority of Dom Morin in
the field of liturgy.
90
The Fast of the Tenth Month could be observed at the beginning of January or as
late as the feriae sementivae.
"..'
T
:\~; _./
'--'-"''-"
there are fwther serious questions regarding the content of his argument
and the method he used. 91
Given that the debate about the background of the festivals has once
again been revived, any new hypothesis should, ideally, propose an answer
to all of the following questions: Is it possible that there were once only
one or two fasts, or is three the original number? When and why were they
instituted? Why are they observed only in Rome? Why are they observed
in this season? Why was the exact time of their observation not fixed?
Why are they observed on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday? Why do they
include a vigil? Why are most readings from the Old Testament? What is
the special character of each fast? How has this character changed? What
is the relationship of the fasts to pagan and to Jewish festivals? Unfortunately, so bro~d an investigation into the background and development of
the three fasts carmot be undertaken for the present. Here, I will offer only
some reflection on the Fast of the Seventh Month.
Could the Solemn Fasts be an independent Roman Christian invention?" In this case, the emergence of the Fast of the Seventh Month and all
its "Jewish" elements have to be explained as "throwbacks" to the Old
Testament by a liturgical innovator intimately familiar with the Bible.
Also, the development of a special fast after Pentecost is comprehensible
in light of the prohibition on fasting during the 50 days after Easter. The
Solemn Fast after Pentecost underscores the beginning of regular station
fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays. The emergence of the Fast of the
Tenth Month, however, is more difficult to explain. Does it pick up elements of Hanukkah? The central difficulty is to give a reason for the
structural similarities of the three fasts as a group and to rationalize the
need to found seasonal festivals with such strong agricultural elements in a
vast metropolis like the city of Rome, and exclusively there.
Talley's early dating opens the door to a "positive" influence through
Jewish converts in early times ("apostolic influence" or "adoption"). If we
consider the Solemn Fasts as a series, the only Jewish series of fasts that
91
See Talley, "The Origin of the Ember Days." Only theferiae sementivae belong to
the chronologically undeterminedferiae conceptivae. There seems to be no other special
connection between the three feriae. The Ember days of Pentecost are rarely in June never in July or August parallel to the /eriae messis. Chavasse, "Le sermon III de saint
Leon et la date de la celt~bration des Quatre-Temps de septembre," showed that the
Ember days of September may take place also after the equinox. The connection of expiation, protection and apotropaic aspects with harvest festivals is quite common; we also
find it in the connection of Yom Kippur and Sukkot and in Philo's understanding of Yom
Kippur.
92
Scholars of comparative religion sometimes forget the option of indigenous religious creativity and exaggerate the dependence on various other traditions.
i
L
i
311
comes into consideration as a source of influence is the one based on an

interpretation of Zechariah 8:19: "The fast of the fourth month, and the fast
of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast ofthe tenth."93 The
Mishnah and Talmudim interpret this verse as referring to the Jewish fasts
in the accompanying list: 94
Julian Date
Date in the Jewish

Calendar
9th or 17th Tammuz
91b Av
3ro Tishri
10 Tevet
beginning July
mid August
mostly September
beginning of December
be_g!nni_!!g_of Jan~
beginning June
Event
mid July
Fall of the wall of Jerusalem

Destruction of the
temple
Death of Gedaliah
Beginning of the siege
of Jerusalem
The dates of the Jewish fasts A, C and D come quite close to the Christian
Solemn Fasts?' Can the origin of the Solemn Fasts be an interpretatio
Christiana of the months given in Zechariah 8:19? The first to connect
Zechariah 8:19 to the Solemn Fasts is Gelasius I in the late fifth century 96
In Roman Christian minds of the seventh century, Zechariah 8:19 is definitely connected to the Solemn Fasts since it is read during the Saturday
vigil of the Fast of the Seventh Month 97 All references to Zechariah 8:19
prior to Gelasius are unconnected to the Solemn Fasts. 98 It therefore seems
more plausible that the references to Zechariah 8:19 from Gelasius onward
are an attempt to endorse an already existing practice with biblical authority rather than the adoption of a Jewish practice - testifYing to biblical
93 The Vulgata reads: ieiunium quarti et ieiunium quinti et ieiunium septimi et ieiunium decimi. But of course the Vulgata was not yet the accepted Bible version in the fifth
century.
94 mTa'an 4;yTa'an 4:5, 20b; bRH 18b.
95 The lack of a Christian equivalent to B can be explained theologically. A Christian
fast on the day of the destruction of the temple would be a contradiction in terms. This is
not quite so with Gedaliah's death and the siege of Jerusalem and fall of its walls.
96 See below, p. 313, note 110, for the quotation.
91 See below, p. 318, for list of the readings.
9& Philaster uses Zech 8:19 referring to a different series of fasts (see above). While
Jerome knows the Jewish fasts, he does not connect the Christian Solemn Fasts to
Zech 8:19: see Commentary on Zechariah 8:18-19 (CCSL 76A:820), referring to the
17 Tammuz, 9 Av, 3 Tisbri and 10 Tevet. He compares the Jewish and Julian calendars,
starting with April as the first month and consequently reaching July, August, October
and January as months of the fast. This difference most likely reflects the Syriac calendar, which sets Nisan in April. Leo does not refer to Zech 8:19, nor does his terminology
betray influence of this verse. He uses not ieiunium quarti (mens is), the term used in
Zech 8:19, but Fast of Pentecost.
influence rather than apostolic influence or the adoption of contemporary

Jewish rites.
Ludwig Fischer and Jean Danielou argued for "apostolic'' influence
only in the case of the Fast of the Seventh Month. Fischer argued at the beginning of the last centnry that Yom Kippur is the background to the Fast
of the Seventh Month. 99 In contrast, Dani<!iou promoted a Qurnranic
version of Sukkot as the origin for the Fast of the Seventh Month. 100 However, both theories have difficulties in explaining the exclusively Roman
origin of the fast and the similarities among the three Solemn Fasts, e.g.
the fact that all of them were movable. 101
In sum, the extant sources are too scant to reach a decisive conclusion
on the question of origin. 102 In the sections that follow I will compare the
Fast of the Seventh Month with Yom Kippur and argue for later influence
of Yom Kippur- by the adoption of some of its rites and concepts, by the
inspiration from biblical passages and by a polemical reaction against the
contemporary Jewish fast.
2.2 Leo's Sermons on the Fast of the Seventh Month and Yom Kippur
The ambivalent attitude of Lee the Great toward the Jewish Day of
Atonement in his Sermons on the Fast of the Seventh Month demonstrates
that the contemporary Jewish Day of Atonement was an important factor in
the development of the Christian fast.
Leo's description of the concepts and rites of the Fast of the Seventh
Month is very detailed, and many of them parallel the concepts and rites of
Yom Kippur. At the end of each sermon, Leo admonishes his hearers to
observe a fast on Wednesday and Friday and a Saturday to Sunday night
vigil. Christians, he admonishes, should abstain from "worldly occupations," and food consumption should be reduced; but whoever does not
feel strong enough may eat. 103 The purpose of the Fast of the Seventh
99
Fischer, Die kirch/ichen Quatember, pp. 10-11. Antoine Chavasse suggested seeing
in the change of the name of the Fast of Pentecost to Fast of the Fourth Month (in analogy to the Fast of the Seventh I Tenth Month) evidence for the unification of the Solemn
Fasts and the dissociation of each of them from their individual origins (personal communication referred to by Verstrepen, "Origines et instauration des Quatre-Temps a
Rome,.. p. 343, note 21).
100
DankHou, "Les Quatre-Temps de septembre et la Fete des Tabernacles."
101
On Fischer, see also G. Morin, "Review on Fischer 1914," Revue Benedictine 31
(1914-1919) 349-51.
102
See Nocent, "Le quattro tempora," who states: "Non e perciO possibile, almena a
tutt'oggi, conoscere con certezza le origini delle Quattro Tempora" (p. 264).
103
E.g. Sermon 87:2; 89:1. Similar rulings for sick, pregnant, very young or very old
people exist, of course, in rabbinic Judaism: see mYoma 8.
313
Month is purification and protection of the community, propitiation of God

and forgiveness of sins. 104 The placatory function of fasting is expressed
e.g. in Sermon 88:1: "The arousal of divine justice ... could not be placated
except by fasting," and Sermon 94:4: "By the devotion of our fast we may
please the merciful God." 105 The discipline of the body is strengthened by
the abstention from food, the soul by the abstention from sin. 106 Here and
there Leo adds sacrificial connotations, mostly speaking of alms as the
"sacrifice of mercy." 107 In one passage Leo explicitly juxtaposes fast and
sacrifice with a placatory function: "The God of mercies, pleased by the
sacrifice of the fast, will hear us, through Christ our Lord." 108 Almsgiving
is obligatory for all, regardless of fasting, and a fast without almsgiving is
considered a mere expression of avarice. 109 From the time of Gelasius I
(492-496), 110 the fasts gain yet another dimension by being occasions for
the ordination of priests and deacons. This practice might even have been
the custom as early as the days of LeoY 1 The communal character of the
104 This comes out strongly also in the Veronense, e.g. 873: "Adesto, domine,fidelibus
tuis, et quos caelestibus institues sacramentis, a terrenis conserua periculis." (ed. EizenMfer, Siffrin and Mohlberg, p. 110); and 876: "Omnipotens sempiterne deus, misericordiam tuam supp/ices exoramus, ut hoc tuum, domine, sacramentum non sit nobis
reatus ad poenam, sed fiat intercessio salutaris ad ueniam: sit abolltio peccatorum, sit
fortitudo jragilium, sit contra mundi pericula jirmamentum.., (ed. EizenhOfer, Siffrin and
Moh1berg, pp. 11 o-111 ).
105 Cf. also Sermon 93:3 "When our three devotions come together into one design,
that is 'prayer, alms, and fasting,' the grace of God furnishes us with a restraint in desires, the granting of our prayers, and forgiveness of sins." On the propitiation by prayer
and almsgiving, see also Sennon 12:4; 15: I; 20:3 "a certain power of baptism is set in
almsgiving."
106 E.g. Sermon 86:1-2; 87:1; 88:1-2; 89:3; 92:2; 93:3; :94:1-2.
!07 E.g. Sermon 13:2; 20:2; 88:5.
108 Deus misericordiarum ieiunii sacriflcio placatus exaudiat per Christum Dominum
nostrum (Sermon 89:6). Cf. Veronense N 895, Accepta tibi sin/, domine, quaesumus,
nostri dona ieiunii; quae et expiando nos tua gratia dignos efficient, et ad sempiterna
promissa perducant (ed. EizenhOfer, Siffrin and Mohlberg, p. 112).
109 E.g. Sermon 15:2; 87:3. The traditional triad- fast, prayer and almsgiving- reflects
the central chapter of the Sennon on the Mount (Matt 6). On Leo and almsgiving, see
R. Bolle, "Un docteur de 1'awn6ne, S. Leon le Grand," Vie Spirituelle (1957) 266--287.
110 Gelasius, Letter 14 (PL 59:138A): Ordinationes vero presbyterOrum seu diaconorum non nisi quarti, septimi, et decimi mensium jejuniis; sed et ingressu quadragesima/i
atque media, vespere sabbati noverit celebrandas. In the Veronense, the prayers for ordination and for the memorial of ordinations of bishops follow the prayers for the Fast of
the Seventh Month.
111 In fact, Leo I celebrated his ordination day on the Fast of the Seventh Month in the
year 443: see Chavasse, "Le sermon III de saint Leon et la date de Ia celebration des
Quatre-Temps de septembre." It is possible that his ordination day, Sunday, 29 September 440 CE, coincided with the end of the vigil of the September Fast. However, this may
fast is of central importance. For Leo, the communal fast and almsgiving
constitutes an apotropaic protection rite for the whole commWlity, since
they purify the Church as a whole and unify it against the attacks of the
devil.II 2
Although the watchful fury of the cruel enemy rages and spreads out hidden snares
everywhere, he can take no one, he can wound no one, if he finds everyone armed,
everyone active, everyone sharing in the works ofmercy. 113
This concept recalls the importance of the communal fast on Yom Kippur
and reflects a relatively recent shift in Ecclesiology- Augustine's view of
the Church as a "school of sinners." 114
The fast of the individual does not need appointed days and belongs to
the "voluntary observances . . . dependent on private initiative" (Sermon 88:2); the combination of communal fast and prayer is a more efficacious means of purification and remission of all sins than is the individual
fast:
tion of God through fasting, alms, supplicatory prayers and abstention

from work, the unifying communal character, the sacrificial connotation
and the association with ordination. Taken singly, none is sufficiently distinctive, as cumulative evidence, however, they are noteworthy for pointing to a relation between Yom Kippur and the Fast of the Seventh Month.
But as noted earlier, Leo is careful to emphasize the distinctions from
the parallel Jewish fast. While Christians should abstain from "worldly occupations," they may perform "necessary" works; and food consumption is
reduced, not completely forbidden, and whoever does not feel strong
enough, may eat. 117 The close and ambivalent relationship between the
Christian Fast of the Seventh Month and the Jewish Day of Atonement is
most clearly expressed in Leo's 89th Sermon:
When, therefore, dearly beloved, we encourage you on to certain matters set out
even in the Old Testament, we are not subjecting you to the yoke of Jewish observance, nor are we suggesting to you the custom of a worldly (carnalis) people.
Christian self-denial surpasses their fasts, and, if there is anything in common between us and them in chronological circumstances (temporibus), the customs (moribus) are different. 118 Let them have their barefoot processions (nudipedalia), and
let their pointless fasts (ieiunia) show in the sadness of their faces (in tristitia uultuum). We, however, show no change in the respectability of our clothes. We do
not refrain from any right and necessary work. Instead, we control our freedom in
eating by simple frugality, limiting the quantity of our food, but not condemning
what God has created. 119
We are all cleansed by the daily gift of God from various contaminations. In unwary souls, however, many gross spots adhere that ought to be washed out with
greater care and cleansed with more effort. The fullest remission of sin is obtained
when there is one prayer and on~ confession of the whole Church. 115
The Sermons on the fasts of the fourth and tenth months show that these
characteristics are common to all three fastsn Propitiating and purifying
are the general aims of most fasts.
Among the characteristics of the Fast of the Seventh Month that recall
Yom Kippur are: the date, the general ideas of purification and of propitiahave been a coincidence. A similar juxtaposition of atonement with ordination can be
found in the rabbinical understanding of the high-priestly preparation week before Yom
Kippur: see Knohl and Naeh, "Milu'im veKippurim."
112
See e.g. Sermon 18:2; 88:2-4; 89:2.
113
Sermon 88:2.
114
Perhaps, the emergence of another collective repentance ritual in the fifth century,
the rogations in Gaul, may reflect this shift in Ecclesiology. The rogations, however,
probably developed out of local pagan rituals: see G. Nathan, "The Rogation Ceremonies
of Late Antique Gaul. Creation, Transmission and the Role of the Bishop," Classica et
Mediaevalia. Revue danoise de philology et d'histoire 49 (1998) 275-304; and
W. Klingshirn, Caesarius of Aries. The Making of a Christian Community in Late
Antique Gaul (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, Fourth Series 22;
Cambrigde 1994), pp. 177 and 240. I would like to thank Peter Brown for kindly drawing
my attention to these connections.
115
Sermon 88:3.
116
Cf. Sermon 12:4; 78:4 on purification; 12:4; 15:1; 20:3; 78:4; 81:4 on propitiation
and forgiveness; 19:2; 78:2 on protection; 13:2; 20:2 on the sacrificial character; 18:2 on
the communal character.
315
Unlike Christians, Jews have barefoot processions nudipedalia (I), their

fast is expressed by sadness (2) and less respectable clothes (3), and they
abstain completely from work (4) and food (5). As noted earlier, Leo's
mention of the barefoot processions makes it almost certain that he is describing contemporary Yom Kippur rites as an eyewitness and not from a
"bookish" familiarity with the Jewish fast. His statements are not imaginary polemics against the biblical Day of Atonement but reflect a real conflict between three parties: his contemporary )ewish neighbors who
observe their fast, those Christians who observe the Fast of the Seventh
Month and those Christians who apparently attack the Christian fast as a
Jewish observance. Leo admits to similarities, but strongly emphasizes the
distinction so as to defend the fast against accusations of Judaizirig practice. Unlike Chrysostom, Leo does not complain abont Christians actually
117
Sermon 88:3; and see the sources given above in note 103, p. 312.
The translation of Freeland and Conway ("if there is anything in common between
us and them in circumstances, there are great differences in our character") misses some
aspects of the comparison. Dolle's French translation goes in the same direction as my
suggestion. Mores is the headline for the five customs that follow.
li9 Sermon 89:1 (CCSL l38A: 551). Cf. the discussion on pp. 74-76 above.
118
316 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the Third to the Fifth Centuries-
participating in the Jewish festivals and the fast, but he defends himself
against accusations of Judaizing by explaining the similarities as belonging
to the apostolic Jewish heritage. Like the Ten Commandments, the Solemn
Fasts are the valuable part of the Old Testament precepts, which have been
adopted into the new covenant. Judaizing is orthodox- if it is apostolic:
The Apostles distinguished the Old Testament decrees, dearly beloved, in such a
way that they might extract some of them, just as they had been composed, to
benefit the teaching of the Gospel. What had for a long time been Jewish custom
could become Christian observance (obseruantiae}, for the Apostles understood
that the Lord Jesus Christ had come into the world, 'not to destroy the law but to
fulfill it., 121)
The Christianized fasts, then, are converted Old Testament precepts.

When, from the teaching of ancient doctrine, dearly beloved, we undertake the fast
of September to purify our souls and bodies, we are not subjecting ourselves tolegal burdens. We are embracing the good use of self-restraint that serves the Gospel of Christ. In this too, Christian virtue can 'exceed that of the scribes and
Pharisees,' not by making void the law, but by rejecting worldly wisdom. Our
fasts ought not to be such as were those about which Isaiah the prophet, with the
Holy Spirit speaking in him, said.l21
What makes the Jewish practice' into a Christian one are mainly its performers.
Confidently encouraging you with fatherly counsels, dearly beloved, we preach
the fast dedicated in September to the exercises of common devotion, sure that
what was frrst the Jewish fast will become Christian by your observance. 122
In sum, Leo's descriptions of the Christian Fast of the Seventh Month display a great similarity to the rites and concepts connected to Yom Kippur.
Feeling under attack by Christians who are annoyed at the similarity between the Christian and Jewish fasts, Leo emphasizes the distinctions and
defends the Christian practice as apostolic legacy. His references to the
contemporaneous Yom Kippur make clear that the tension between the
Christian and Jewish fasts is not based on an imaginary biblical model but
reflects a historic proximity. Leo's promotion of the Fast of the Seventh
Month and his emphasis on its Christian character have to be understood as
a reaction - on the one hand against the attacks by fellow Christians and
on the other against the competing presence of the simultaneous Jewish
120
Sermon 92:1 (CCSL 138A 568:1-6}; transl. by Conway and Freeland, St. Leo the
Great: Sermons, p. 385.
121 Sermon 92:2 (CCSL 138A 569:31-39); transl. by Conway and Freeland, St. Leo the
122 Sermon 90:1 (CCSL I38A 556:1-4}; transl. by Conway and Freeland, St. Leo the
317
fast. Regarding the remarkable correspondence between the Fast of the

Seventh Month and Yom Kippur, it is likely that some rites were indeed
directly adopted- e.g. via converts or Judaizantes- though it is difficult to
point to specific instances. This impression is reinforced by analyzing the
parallels between the readings of the Fast of the Seventh Month and Yom
Kippur.
2.3 The Readings of the Fast of the Seventh Month and Yom Kippur
Our earliest sources for the biblical readings of the Roman order, the
Comes of Wurzburg and the Comes of Alcuin, mention highly interesting
readings for Wednesdays, Fridays and the Saturday vigils. 123 The sheer
number of Lectiones (six) demonstrates the solemnity of the vigil. In the
Roman lectionary, only the Easter and Pentecost vigils have six lessons. In a sense, the vigils of the Solemn Fasts are therefore seasonal repetitions of
the paschal fast and vigil 124 The choice of these readings clearly reveals a
close relation to the Jewish festivals of autumn, especially to Yom Kippur
and the themes related to it (see accompanying table).
There are two possible explanations for the correspondence between the
two reading cycles: (a) through adoption from the Jewish lectionary direct "positive" influence; or (b) through the content of the biblical texts
themselves and the liturgical context they suggest - "bookish" influence.
The former was suggested by Ludwig Venetianer and again by Eric Werner.125 Antoine Chavasse argues for the latter, speaking of "Ia perspective
d'un Romain du IVe sii!:cle qui relirait I' Ancien Testament pour s'en inspirer dans la reglementation d'Wle celebration desti~ee a prendre place au
cours du 'septii!:me mois' ." 126
123 On the readings, see Chavasse, Les /ectionnaires romains de Ia Messe au VIle et
VIlle steeles, vol. 2, p. 19 and p. 42; and the helpful table in Chavasse, Le Sacramentaire
gilasien (Vaticanus Reginensis 316), sacramentaire presbytira/ en usage dans /es titres
romains au VIle steele, pp. 110-111; or see G. Godu, "Evangiles," Dictionnaire de l'archio/ogie chritienne et liturgie 5/1 (1922} 852-923, especially columns 896-923, and
Godu, "Epitres."
124 Talley, "The Origin of the Ember Days," p. 470.
125
L. Venetianer, "Ursprung und Bedeutung der Propheten-Lektionen," Zeitschrift der
Deutschen Morgenltindischen Gesellschaft 63 (1909) 103-170, here pp. 140-141;
E. Werner, The Sacred Bridge. Liturgical Parallels in Synagogue and Early Church
(New York, 1959), p. 80.
126 Chavasse, "Le sermon III de saint Leon et Ia date de la celebration des QuatreTemps de septembre," p. 81. The fourth century is probably too early a dating for the
readings. Of all the Lectiones and Gospel readings, Leo quotes only Mark 9:29 (Sermon 87:2}. But the general idea is valid also for the installation and promotion of the
festival in Leo's time and even before him.
Dav of Readin"'
Wednesday
(Wdl)
(Wd2
(WdG Gosnel
Friday
CFrn'
(FrG) Gospel
Lectiones
Amos 9:13 15
Nehemia 8:1 10
Mark 9:17 29
Hosea 14:2 10
Luke 5:17 26
Saturday vigil
(Sal)
(Sal a) 127
(Sa2)
(Sa3)
Leviticus 23:27 32
Jeremiah 30:8 II
Leviticus 23:34--43
Micah 7:14--20
(Sa4)
Zechariah 8:14 19
(Sa5)
(Sa6)
Exodus 32:11 14
Hebrews 9:2 12
(SaG) Gospel
Luke 13:10-1'7
Contents
Restoration of Israel; agricultural
motifs; end of the Book of Amos
Readin.g of the law on New Year
Exorcism
Call for Israel to repent; agricultural
motifs; end of the Book of Hosea
Debate over forgiveness of sins and
healin2 of the lame
Yom Kippur
Eschatoio2ical nromise of salvation
Sukkot
Prayer for protection and forgiveness, end of the Book of Micah
Eschatological conditions and fourfold fast
God is nronitiated bv Moses
The tabernacle and Christ the high
oriest oerfonnin2 atonement
Releasing (on the Sabbath) the
woman bound bv Satan 128
Four texts refer directly to the three Jewish festivals of autumn. Most
clearly, (Wd2) Nehemia 8:1-10 relates to New Year, (Sal) Leviticus 23:27-32 to Yom Kippur, (Sa2) Leviticus 23:34-43 to Sukkot and
(Sa4) Zechariah 8:19 could be understood as referring also to the fast of
Gedaliah. The order of texts follows the chronological order of the festivals. The only New Testament Epistle reading among the Lectiones, (Sa6)
Hebrews 9:2-12, describes the new Day of Atonement of Jesus Christ. The
language of two of the lectures, (Wdl) Amos 9:13-15 and (Frl)
Hosea 14:2-10, is replete with agricultural allusions, fitting the atmosphere
ofSukkot.
The main theological line of the readings encompasses sin, repentance,
propitiation, forgiveness and restoration. (Wdl) Amos 9:13-15 and (Frl)
Hosea 14:2-10 speak about the restoration of Israel or about its beiog
called to repentance, topics reminiscent of Yom Kippur, (Sa4) Zechanah 8:14-19 and (Sa5) Exodus 32:11-14 address God, forgiver of sins,
bemg placated by fast and iotercession. (Sal b) Jeremiah 30:8-1 I and (Sa3)
12
~ This text appears only in the Comes of WUrzburg (N 146), not in the Comes ofAJ-
cum.
128
This exorcism evokes a discussion on the meaning of the Sabbath and is read on
Saturday.
319
Micah 7:14-20 129 speak of salvation and forgiveness and protection of

Israel agaiost its enemies. The three Gospel readings talk about healiog
exorcisms connected to the forgiveness of sins.
At first glance, the choice of pericopes seems to confim1 Chavasse's
theory that the rites of the Fast of the Seventh Month were shaped by a
Cbristian who combed the Old and the New Testament for texts pertaining
to September. There are, however, several problems with this approach.
The "bookish" explanation does not account for the unusually large number of lections for this Christian fast. Nor does it explain the preeminence
of Old Testament pericopes among the readings. Indeed, a Christian mining the Christian Bible for passages about repentance, propitiation, forgiveness and restoration could find more than enough in the New Testament. Moreover, Chavasse addressed only the content of the passages,
without considering their Jewish liturgical use. Investigation of the latter
shows that a number of lections of the Christian fast betray connections
with Yom Kippur, thus making it probable that some Christians were acquainted with Jewish liturgical habits-' 30
Five of the Old Testament passages of the Fast of the Seventh Month
are read in some synagogues at about the same time - three on Yom Kippur itself; the other two very close to Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur itself:
(Sal) Leviticus 23:27-32 and part of (Sa3), Micah 7:18-20, and, in some
Palestinian communities, (Sa5) Exodus 32: I I -1 4.m On Sabbath Shuva between New Year and Yom Kippur: (Frl) Hosea 14:2-10 (as well as
Micah 7:18-20). 132 On Sukkot: (Sa2) Leviticus 23:34-43.
Particularly the choice of two readings, (Frl) Hosea 14:2-10 and (Sa3)
Micah 7:14-20, is not easily explained without reference to the Jewish
reading cycle. Readings from the minor prophets are extremely rare in the
Roman lectionary; Micah is read only here, while Hosea is read on only
129 Three of the lectures are actually the very end of the books of Amos, Hosea and Micah (Wdl, Frl, Sa3).
130 When comparing the readings of the Fast of the Seventh Month and Yom Kippur,
we have to be aware that nothing is known about the readings in Rome's synagogues in
the fifth to sixth centuries. All of the following remarks are valid only if at least part of
the readings agreed with the mishnaic, talmudic and post-talmudic readings: see above,
pp. 54-59. We have to be aware too that of all Epistle and Gospel readings, Leo refers
only to Mark 9:29 (Sermon 87 :2).
131 See above, p. 55. This observation escaped my attention in StOkl Ben Ezra, "Whose
Fast Is It?" In some rabbinic traditions, Exod 32-34 is linked to Yom Kippur: see yYoma
7:3, 44b; Leviticus Rabbah 21:10 (ed. Margulies, pp. 489-490). See alsoyYoma 8:9, 45c,
discussing the episode of the golden calf as one of the prooftexts on which to base the
confessions.
132 Hos 14 is also the scriptural focus of bYoma 86a-b: seep. 56, above.
,320 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the Third to the Fifth Centuries
one other occasion. Second, these specific pericopes - Micah 7 and Hosea 14- do not seem to have been well known among Latin authors. 133 In
short, if a Christian reader were to have connected these texts to the fast,
he would have been making an extremely atypical choice. A more plausible explanation is that the choice of Micah 7 and Hosea 14 as readings in
the Christian services was connected to their use in some Synagogues in
September.
Furthermore, the final epistolary reading of the Saturday vigil, (Sa6)
Hebrews 9:2-12, depicts Jesus Christ performing the high priest's ritual
from the Day of Atonement, but includes no reference to September.
Therefore, whoever chose this reading was likely aware of its typological
and polemical connection to Leviticus 16, the main lesson of the Jewish
festival (or the Seder Avodah). By virtue ofits position after the Old Testament readings, Hebrews 9:2-12 is presented as the apex of the whole
reading circle, communicating to the hearer that Christ himself undertakes
the atoning work of the true Yom Kippur. In light of the competitive
situation attested by Leo, it is quite plausible that Hebrews 9:2-12 was
chosen as a polemical, supercessionist substitute for Leviticus 16. 134
Direct contact, however, cannot explain all of the readings. Some readings of the Fast of the Seventh Month are not connected to the Jewish liturgy for the month ofTishri (e.g. Amos 9:13-15; Nehemia 8:1-10; Zechariah
8:14-19). Moreover; a number of texts central to Yom Kippur are not read
on the Fast of the Seventh Month: Leviticus 16 and 18; Numbers 29:7-11;
Jonah and Isaiah 57:15ff.U 5 Leviticus 18 and Jonah might not have been
read in the majority of synagogues. 136 While Hebrews 9:2-12 can explain
the disregard of Leviticus 16 and Numbers 29:7-11, it is difficult to give
133
See Biblia patristica; the index to the translated (and therefore incomplete) works
of Augustine by J.W. Sites, A Scripture Index to the Works of St. Augustine in English
Translation (Lanham, New York and London, 1995) gives an equally meager use of the
minor prophets by Augustine. A single verse, Hos 14:10, is used widely without any
connection to repentance. The crucial verses about repentance, Hos 14:2-3 almost never
appear in early Christian Latin literature. Again the exception proving the rule is the
pseudo-cyprianic Exhortation to Penitence probably from Spain from about the same
time as Leo, cf. C. Wunderer, Bruchstii.cke einer afrikanischen Bibelii.bersetzung in der
pseudocyprianischen Schrift Exhortatio de paenitentia (Programm der kgI. Bayer.
Studienanstalt zu Erlangen; Erlangen, 1889), here p. 34 for the dating.
134
Venetianer, "Ursprung und Bedeutung der Propheten-Lektionen," pp. 140-141,
argues that the mishnaic reading Lev 23:27-32 was abandoned as a reaction against its
adoption in the Christian fast. This is overextending the Roman evidence to the rest of
the Jewish world.
135
Neither does Leo quote them or allude to them. For the readings in the early
synagogue service, see above, pp. 54-59.
6
13
See above, pp. 56-57, especially note 219.
1
I
!
321
reasons for the neglect of Isaiah 57:15ff (especially Isaiah 58:5ff). But
neither can the "bookish" model explain the absence of Isaiah 57: 15ff and
Jonah, since both texts would have matched the themes of the Christian
vigil of the Fast of the Seventh Month perfectly. Christians combing the
Old Testament for suitable texts surely encountered these passages, which
are very commonly used in Christian literature, especially as prooftexts for
Gentile groups who claim to fast more piously than Jews do. 137
Different reasons, then, may have influenced the choice of readings.
Some may have been adopted directly via Jewish Christians or Judaizantes,138 some may have been chosen by attentive readers qf.the Old Testament,139 some may have been selected as polemical responses against the
contemporary Jewish fast, 140 and some may have been read without direct
relation to the Jewish fast. 141 Thus we can speak of three kinds of influence: influence through the adoption of Jewish ritual customs, influence
through polemical reaction to Jewish ritual customs and "bookish" (biblical) influence. 142
Conclusion
The Fast of the Seventh Month and Yom Kippur are closely related,
though the origin of the Christian fast remains obscure. The biblical Yom
Kippur served as the model for the Christian fast, as did the concepts and
lections connected to it. This is shown by the reading of Leviticus 23:2732 and by Leo's explicit reference to the Christian fast as a Christianized
Day of Atonement adopted by the Apostles. Beyond that, the contemporary
Jewish fast also played a role in the promotion of the Christian fast and influenced some of the rites and concepts connected to it. Christian awareness of the contemporary Yom Kippur becomes clear through Leo's de131
Parts of Isa 57:15-58:14 are read during Lent according to the lectionaries in most
churches. Parts of Jonah are usually read during the Easter vigil, again according to most
lectionaries. To be sure, reading the whole Book of Jonah or Lev 16 would have made for
an exceptionally long reading; but this does not exclude the possibility of selecting some
verses, pars pro toto.
138
Notably, those passages that appear in the Jewish reading cyc1e but show no
intrinsic connection to a fast in autumn, e.g. (Frl) Hos 14:2-10 and (Sa3) Mic 7:14-20.
Of course, other texts from the Jewish reading cycle may have been adopted, too, such as
(Sal) Lev 23:27-32 and (Sa5) Exod 32:11-14.
"' E.g. (Wd2) Neh 8:1-10; (Sa2) Lev 23:34-43; (Sa4) Zech 8:14-19 and perhaps also
(Sal) Lev 23:27-32.
140
E.g. (Sa6) Heb 9:2-12 and perhaps also (Sal) Lev 23:27~32 and (Sa5) Exod 32:1114.
141
E.g. (Wdl) Amos 9:13-15 and the special reading in the Comes of Wii.rzburg,
Jer 30:8-11 and the Gospel readings.
142
Even "apostolic" influence cannot be ruled out.
scriptions of contemporary Jewish practice (nudipedalia), previously misunderstood as references to a pagan practice. Some lections (e.g. Frl,
Hosea 14:2-10 and Sa3, Micah 7:14-20) were probably direct adoptions
from Jewish readings of Tishri. Others (e.g. Sa6, Hebrews 9:2-12) were
chosen as a polemical reaction against the contemporaneous Day of
Atonement in order to make manifest the supersession by the Christian fast
-just as Leo tried to express the superiority of the Christian fast compared
to its Jewish prototype. While he may have perceived the fast of his Jewish
contemporaries as threatening the Christian identity, his main thrust is to
propagate the Christian Fast of the Seventh Month and justify it against
possible accusations of Judaization by fellow Christians. Unlike Chrysostom, Leo does not complain about Christians taking part in Jewish festivals. Plausibly, the Roman fast prevented Christians from participating in
Jewish Yom Kippur services. It would be interesting to know whether the
institution of the Fast of the Seventh Month was a reaction to a situation
similar to that in Antioch of a mass movement of Judaizing Christians. Unfortunately, our limited knowledge of the Jewish and Jewish Christian
communities in Rome in the third to fifth centuries precludes being more
precise.
Notwithstanding the dangers inherent in making statements about psycho-religious constellations 1,500 years ago, it does seem that the Fast of
the Seventh Month answered the same collective psycho-religious needs as
did the Day of Atonement. It is a day of communal purification, propitiation and expulsion of evil spirits at the time of the harvest, marking the end
of the agricultural cycle of sowing, tending and harvesting. It is a fast in
the midst of an abundance of food, a moment of communal contemplation
of the self in relation to God, in the days of reckoning the human labor of a
year dependent on factors beyond human contra l.
3. Eastern Commemoration of Gabriel's Annunciation to

Zechariah
Early Christian tradition elevated Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist,
to high priesthood, 143 and according to legend, Zechariah received the annunciation of the conception of his son in the holy of holies on Yom Kippur. Two factors gave impetus to the development of this tradition. First,
the mystery surrounding the place of the annunciation, the ritual performed
by Zechariah and his hierarchical position in Luke 1 all provided fertile
143
323
ground for creative speculation. The more famous the hero of a tra_dition,
the more interesting his story. Second, some people attempted to g1ve the
birth of Christ - an important event of redemption history- a place in the
liturgical calendar and looked for hints on which to base their calculations.
The scant chronological references in Luke 1 about the visit of Mary to
Elizabeth were the only data they could use. And these references could
give only relative dates. Christ was born half a year later than John, and in
each case the annunciation and conception had happened nine months
earlier. But when exactly? Explaining the ritual performed by Zechariah as
being part of the Yom Kippur temple service provided a fixed point for the
calculations.
Jn the Greek and Syriac East this chronological fixation of the legendary
event found liturgical expression in the establishment of a commemoration
day for the annunciation to the high priest Zechariah of the birth of his son,
John the Baptist. Establishing a liturgical event such as the commemoration day might well be connected to the finding of Zechariah's relics, together with those of Simeon and James the Just, 144 in Jerusalem on the
Mount of Olives on 1 December 351. 145 In other words, the location of
Zechariah in sacred geography might well have been the impetus for adding Zechariah's annunciation into the liturgical calendar, which probably
spread from Jerusalem to other places. The tradition of the discovery of the
tomb of the three Christian (high) priests- Zechariah, James and Simeonoriginally points to a Jewish-Christian provenance, as the Protevangelium
of James mentions Zechariah and Simeon and claims to have been written
by James the Just. Yet in the fourth century, the Protevangelium was already widely known and independent of Jewish-Christian circles.
Three main traditions mandate for dates for the commemoration day in the
respective liturgical calendar. First, in the Greek Synaxarion, the annunciation is commemorated on 23 September. The same is true for two West
Syriac calendars, 146 which are relatively late and, according to Baumstark
144 On the connection between the three figures, see above, pp. 255-257. Some
Synaxaria commemorate the three figures together, on 23 October.
145 The source for this event is a tenth-century Latin text, which is a translation of a
lost, most probably Greek, text first translated by Abel, "La sepulture de saint Jacques le
Mineur." The legend is confirmed by some lectionaries, which record this event as being
on 1 December, and by Theodosius, who knew of the existence of such a tomb in 530,
see CSEL 39:140-142 (ed. P. Geyer).
I 46 Ms Paris 146 (seventeenth century), Vatican 69 (sixteenth century) and British Museum Add. 17232 (1210), all published by F. Nau in Martyrologes et Menologes orientaux (PO 10; Paris, Freiburg i.Br., 1915).
l
325
and Engberding, are influenced by the Byzantine calendar. 147 The Coptic
Synaxarion, too, commemorates the annunciation on 26 Thoth, which is
23 September in the Julian calendar. 148
Second, the Old Georgian Lectionary, witness for the Jerusalem tradition, commemorates the visio Zachariae et mutitatis (eius) on 27 September; 149 and a similar date, 26 September, is confirmed by an early Syriac
calendar. 150 Baumstark suggests Palestine as the point of origin for the
commemoration days of some biblical figures and events in the Old Georgian Lectionary, among them the annunciation to Zechariah. 151 Following
Baumstark's suggestion, I will speak of the Jerusalem date (26 I 27 September) as distinct from the Byzantine date (23 September).
The Arab polymath AI Birnni gives yet a third date. In a treatise on calendars ca. !000 CE he writes that on the tenth day of Tishri A (I 0 October)152 the Me!kites celebrate the "commemoration of the prophet Zacha147
A. Baumstark, Festbrevier und Kirchenjahr der syrischen Jakobiten. Eine /iturgiegeschichtliche Vorarbeit auf Grund Handschriftlicher Studien in Jerusalem und Damaskus, der Syrischen Handschriftenkataloge von Berlin, Cambridge, London, Oxford, Paris
und Rom und des unierten Mossuler f"estbrevierdruckes (Paderbom, 1910), p. 274;
H. Engberding, "Kann Petrus der Iberer lnit Dionysius Areopagita identifiziert werden?"
Oriens Christianus 38 (1954) 68-95, here pp. 75-76.
148
F. Nau (ed.), Martyrologes et Menologes orientaux. Les Mnologes des evang/iaires coptes-arabes (PO 10/2; Paris, Freiburg i.Br., 1915; pp. 165-244), p. 189. The
manuscripts consulted were written in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
149
Garitte, Le calendrier palestino-gorgien du Sinaiticus 34, p. 341; cf. "Visio Zachariae aphonia" in Paris Codex Georg. 3 and the Lathal manuscript of the Old Georgian
Lectionary: seeM. Tarchnischvili, Legrand /ectionnaire de l'riglise de Jerusalem, N
1257. Garitte also refers to Bolotov, who claims to have seen a text by Maximus Confessor mentioning 27 September as the day of the annunciation to Zechariah. Garitte, Le
calendrier palestino-griorgien du Sinaiticus 34, p. 341. A search for Za:x.a in TLG 8.0 did
not yield a text speaking of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, in the digitalized
texts of Maximus.
150
British Museum Add. 14519 (eleventh to twelfth centuries), published by F. Nau in
Martyrologes et Mnologes orientaux (PO 10; Paris, Freiburg i.Br., 1915).
151
"lhre Heimat in Palastina suchen mOchte man sich femer auch bei einigen G~cht
nistagen biblischer Gestalten versucht fuhlen [sic!], die dem huarizmischen Heiligenkalender [the source of AI Biruni] gegenfiber dem gemeinbyzantinischen Brauche wie gegentiber der georgischen Ueberlieferung eigentO.m!ich sind" cf. A. Baumstark, "Ausstrahlungen des vorbyzantinischen Heiligenkalenders von Jerusalem," Orientalia Christiana
Periodica 2 (1936) 129-144, here p. 137. Baumstark refers to Zechariah (10.10); Joseph
of Arimathiah (29.12); Elijah (7.8.); Elisha (8.8.); Jeremiah, Zechariah and Ezekiel
(16.8.); and all prophets (30.8.).
152
The Arabic reads "Tishrln." In Syriac Tishri A is used for October and Tishri B for
November (Payne Smith, s.v.). That "Tishrin" is in any case the same as October can be
learned from the beginning of the preparation fast before Chrisbnas, which begins on the
sixteenth day ofTishrin II (16 November), 40 days before 25 December.
rias." 153 "On this day the angels announced to him the birth of his son
John, as it is mentioned in the Koran, and in greater detail in the Gospel."154 The explicit notation of the date 10 Tishri demonstrates the direct
link to Yom Kippur. This date is adopted also by Ephrem (d. 373) who,
however, does not refer to a festival. 155 Christian liturgical sources describing 10 October as the date for the commemoration of Zechariah are
nnknown to me. 156
For the Byzantine and Jerusalem dates, too, there exist explanations
based on 10 Tishri and connecting Zechariah's revelation to Yom Kippur.
The earliest text known to me (third or fourth centnry?) giving a raison
d'etre for the Byzantine date is the Latin tractate de solstitiis et
aequinoctiis conceptionis et nativitatis Domini nostri Iesu Christi et Johannis Baptistae. 157 This text is also the earliest to give a Julian date for the
annunciation to Zechariah, albeit without mentioning a liturgical commemoration. It is the main theological idea of de solstitiis to prove the coincidence of biblical revelation and divinely ordered nature. John and Jesus
were conceived on the equinox and born on the solstice, the most important astronomical dates of the year 158 The "eleventh [day of the] waxing
153 Islamic tradition apparently also identifies the prophet Zechariah as the father of
John the Baptist.
154
AI Biruni, The Chronology of Ancient Nations (Sachau, p. 286 [291]). The part of
AI Biruni's book relevant for Christian 1fturgy was also published by R. Griveau (ed.),
Martyrologes et Mrinologes orientaux XVI-XVIII. Les fltes des Melchites, par AI-Birouni
(PO 10:4; Paris and Freiburg i.Br., 1915; pp. 289-312).
Highly interesting is Al-Biruni's explanation of the Muslim 'Ashura (Sachau,
pp. 326-327 [329-330]). Among the different ideas related to 'Ashura in Muslim tradition are the following: "People say that on this day God took compassion on Adam, that
the ark of Noah stood still on the mountain Aljfidi, that Jesus was born, that Moses was
saved (from Pharao), and Abraham (from the fire ofNebukadnezar), that the fire around
him (which was to bum him) became cold. Further, on this day Jacob regained his eyesight, Joseph was drawn out of the ditch, Solomon was invested with the royal power, the
punishment was taken away from the people of Jona, Hiob was freed from his plague, the
prayer of Zechariah was granted and John was given to him." (Sachau, p. 326 [329]). On
the 'Ashura, cf. above p. 34, note 100.
155
Ephrem, Commentary on Exodus 12:2-3; (CSCO 152:141); Commentary on the
Diatessaron I :29 (SC 121 :61-62); Homily on the Nativity 27:18; see Coakley, "Typology
and the Birthday of Christ on 6 January"; and de Halleux, "Le comput ephremien du
cycle de Ia nativite."
156
Of course, 23, 26 and 27 September sometimes coincide with 10 Tishri in the
Jewish calendar. AI Biruni, however, was referring to a Christian Syriac calendar.
157
De solstitiis et aequinoctiis (ed. Batte, pp. 96-98). For the text, see above, pp. 253254.
JjS The fust to connect the equinox to the festivals of Tishri (not Yom Kippur) was
Philo, De specialibus legibus 1:186.
moon" (i.e. II Tishri) in de solstitiis should probably be understood as the

day after Zechariah concluded the Yom Kippur service, returned home and
had intercourse with Elisabeth- and John was conceived. Accordingly, the
conception took place at the equinox, 24 September, one day after the annunciation on Yom Kippur, which happened to be 23 September. De solstitiis does not speak of a commemoration day, but the chronology matches
the Byzantine Synaxarion. Among other early authors explicitly connecting Yom Kippur to the annunciaton to Zechariah on 23 September are
commentaries on Luke by Pseudo-Epiphanius and an anonymous Jerusalemite (400-450). 159
The earliest explanation for the Jerusalem date known to me is the
commentary to the liturgy that is anonymous but recorded under the name
of George, bishop of the Arabs, edited by R.H. Connolly, usually dated to
the tenth century. 160 In the chronographical introduction to his explanation
of the liturgy, the author includes the following passage:
And John was annunciated on the tenth [day] of the seventh lunar month, i.e.
Tishri (first Tishrin), which was on the 26th day of the seventh solar month, September (Elul), on a Thursday. 161 Because in that year the fast of the tenth day fell
on a Friday and the Jews do not pbserve [a fast on] a Friday because of the fear
that in the event that one would- die, he would stay unburied and decay, they
changed it to the Thursday. Afterwards Zechariah stayed until the 26th day of the
lunar [month], 162 and then the days of his ministry were full.
John was conceived at the beginning of the lunar month Marheshvan (later
Tishrin), or on the 17th day of the solar month October (first Tishrin), on a Friday.
And he stayed in the womb during the lunar months of Marheshvan (later
Tishrin), Kislev (Kenon), Tevet (Kenon), and Shvat and Adar. In the sixth month,
however, the beginning of the lunar month of April (Nisan), on the 29th day of the
solar month March (Adar), Christ our Lord was conceived. And John was bam on
159
For Pseudo-Epiphanius, see F.C. Conybeare "The Gospel Commentary of
Epiphanius" Zeitschrift for die neutestamentliche Wissenschafi und die Kunde der dlteren
Kirche 7 (1906) 318-332; 8 (1907) 22!-225, he" (1906) p. 325 (folio 73-74). For the
anonymous Jerusalemite commentary on Luke see, fragment 10 in Reuss, Lukas-Kommentare aus der griechischen Kirche, pp. 23-24. Cf. also the spurious correspondence
between Cyril of Jerusalem and Julius of Rome in PG 96:1436--1449.
160
R.H. Connolly (ed.), Anonymi Auctoris Expositio Officiorum Ecc/esiae Georgio
Arbelensi Vulgo Adscripta. Tomus I-IV (4 vols; CSCO 64; 72; 76; 71 [Scriptores Syri 25;
29; 32; 28]; Paris I Leipzig, 1911-1954).
161
This very specific constellation of a Day of Atonement ( 10 Tishri) being a Thursday
that falls on 26 September is very rare.
162
26 Tishri here equals 12 October. Sukkot (with Simhat Torah) ends on 22 Tishri or,
outside the land of Israel, on 23 Tishri.
...r
I
327
the I81h day of the solar month July (Tammuz), which is the fifth of the lunar
month Av, on a Wednesday. 163
While the proposed chronology is impossible, 164 the theological idea behind it is interesting, since the author apparently tries to establish a mathematical foundation for the date 26 September as Yom Kippur in the year of
the conception of John the Baptist. Coincidence with the equinox plays no
role. The definitive inspiration for the Syriac author is the Jewish date of
Yom Kippur. Here, the period between annunciation (26 September) and
conception (17 October) is much longer than in the Byzantine calendar.
However, the author does not use the explicit term "Yom Kippur," nor
does he describe Zechariah as a high priest; yet he clearly knows these details from the tradition.
Both texts link the annunciation to Zechariah with the Jewish fast. But
whereas for the Byzantine text the coincidence with the astronomical constellation of the equinox is clearly central, the Syriac text concentrates
much more on Yom Kippur and seems to be fairly well acquainted with
Jewish calendar regulations.
It is commonly assumed that the Old Georgian Lectionary reflects the liturgy in Jerusalem in the fifth to seventh centuries 165 The Lathal manuscript (L) and the Paris manuscript (P) of the Old Georgian Lectionary
give the following readings for the visio Zachariae: Psalm 141 (140):1.3;
Proverbs 12:25-13:3; Zechariah 2:13-3:4; Hebrews 8:7-9:10; 166 Psalm
119 (118):131; Luke I :1-20 167 This is an impressive assembly of many of
the texts connected to the Jewish and/or Christian imaginaire of Yom Kippur. The most siguificant readings are those of Luke 1:1-20 (the story of
the annunciation to Zechariah), Hebrews 8:7-9:10 (Christ's fulfillment of
I 63 My translation of the Syriac in ed. Connolly, (CSCO 64:40, lines 14-29). I refer to
the lunar months by their Jewish names and have put the literal translation of the Syriac
month name in italicized parentheses. Connolly's Latin translation (CSCO 71:34-35)
makes it difficult to distinguish between the Jewish lunar months and the Roman solar
months.
164 If the preceding 10 Tishri fell on 26 September, 29 March cannot fall on 1 Nisan.
Also, if 26 September was a Thursday, 18 July of the following year cannot coincide
with 5 Av and has to be either a Friday or, in the event the following year is a leapyear, a
Thursday.
165 Compare Verhelst, "La liturgie de Jerusalem a l'epoque byzantine," pp. 12-16; and
the introduction in Garitte, Le calendrier palestino-giorgien du Sinaiticus 34.
166 The manuscripts refer to 8 September, the birth of Mary, see Tarchnischvili, Le
grand lectionnaire de l'iglise de Jerusalem, N 1225. Cf. also the reading of the same
passage of Hebrews for the dedication of the (new) Kathisma church (p. 27, No 1145).
On this festival, see Verhelst, "Le 15 Aofit, le 9 Av et le Kathisme."
167 See Tarchnischvili, Legrand lectionnaire de l'iglise de Jerusalem, No 1257.
- 328 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the Third to the Fifth Centuries
Yom Kippur) and Zechariah 2:13-3:4 (the encounter of the high priest
Jesus, son of Jehozadak, with the angel, God and Satan), which were
apparently understood as typologically related to Zechariah's encounter
with Gabriel. The other readings are related to Zechariah's revelation:
Psalm 141 (140):1.3 refers to prayer and the request to send a gnardian to
watch the mouth, i.e. to prayer and to silence; Proverbs 12:25-13:3 speaks
of the just and wise son and the virtue of silence; and even Psalm 119
(118): 131 may be understood against this background. "With open mouth I
pant, because I long for your commandments." The readings chosen for
this day are clearly a dramatization of the annunciation story set against
the background of Yom Kippur.
In swn, if we speak of a Jewish influence on the ritual commemorating the
annunciation to Zechariah, it is mainly of a bookish influence we speak.
The Jewish calendar offered a welcome solution to a technical question of
importance for Christian calculators of the Messiah's birth. The festival,
then, is a side result of this solution - in itself of rather minor importance.
Nevertheless, it is a striking case of the re-ritualization of a Christian
legend that is based on an epis~e from the New Testament, placed in the
setting of the Jewish festival cycle. It is not the re-ritualization of Yom
Kippur itself; but it commemorates an event that, according to Christian
mythology, took place on Yom Kippur. Unlike the Roman Fast of the
Seventh Month, this festival adopts the temple imagery, not the fast. The
inclusion of Hebrews 8:7-9:10 and Zechariah 2:13-3:4 in the readings of
the Old Georgian Lectionary reflects the Clrristian imaginaire of Yom
Kippur's temple ritual beyond the story of Zechariah in Luke 1:1-20. The
calculations by Ephrem, de solstitiis and Pseudo-George reveal that some
Christian theologians were well aware of the contemporary Yom Kippur
and might have chosen the readings accordingly. Consequently, the annunciation to Zechariah, too, provides evidence for Yom Kippur being a continuous inspiration for Christianity. 168
168
The Byzantine Synaxarion and the calendar of John Zosimus (ed. Garitte, p. 336)
commemorate the prophet Jonah on 21 September. The proximity of its date to Yom
Kippur and its significant liturgical place in Yom Kippur services from very early on are
conspicuous. However, since neither the Old Armenian Lectionary nor the Old Georgian
Lectionary mention Jonah at this time, it would appear to be a rather late adoption.
General Conclusions
I wonld like briefly to summarize the main resnlts of my investigations before launching into some of their implications as well as suggestions for
further research.
First, the temple ritual was widely interpreted and connected to several
myths in the Jewish imaginaires of Yom Kippur, to the reservoirs of motifs, myths, concepts and sensual impressions regarding Yom Kippur in the
various Jewish groups. Three main interpretations emerge. The entry of the
high priest into the holy of holies was perceived as an encounter between a
human being and God, and it was seen to mirror the heavenly journey of
the apocalyptic (I Enoch 14), and the ascent of the mystic's soul to God in
Philo and in Hekhalot mysticism. In eschatologically oriented groups, a
high-priestly redeemer was expected to conquer the lord of Evil and to
liberate his good prisoners on the eschatological Day of Atonement
(IIQMe/chizedek, !Enoch 10). Accordingly, the scapegoat was usually
conceived of as the symbol or embodiment of evil - evil thoughts of men
in Philo, even demonized as the leader of the evil forces in 1Enoch 10, in
4Q 180 and 4Q 181, in the Apocalypse of Abraham, and in some rabbinic
statements.
Second, the Jewish imaginaires of the Yom Kippur temple ritual extensively influenced the formulation of the Christian Jewish myths and conceptions about the atoning effect of Jesus' death and his ascent to God. I
believe this impact to be greater than proposed in the earlier studies by
Young, Scullion and Kraus using a canonical approach.
Third, these Christo logical mythologizations of the temple ritual did not
always entail an abolition of the fast. There is evidence that some Christian
Jews continued to observe the fast of the Day of Atonement at least until
the end of the first century, while others ceased to fast perhaps as early as
the first half of the first century.
Fourth, after the destruction of the temple, Yom Kippur continued to influence Christianity in various ways. Beginoing with Origen, some theologians expressed their concern that the continuous participation of Christians in the Jewish fast stood in contradiction to the Christian typological
myth. Other Christian theologians reacted polentically against the Jewish
fast, through increased propagation of Christian sacrificial atonement
theology, through intense Christianization of the Old Testament texts on
the Day of Atonement, and through the propagation of competing autumn
festivals in Rome and Jerusalem.
General Conclusions
General Conclusions
Fifth, the imagery of the high priest's entry into the holy of holies employed in Jewish apocalyptic and mystic texts influenced Valentinian
Christian soteriology and eschatology and the ritual of the bridal chamber,
a form of induced mysticism. And the Valentinian concepts in turn, influenced the early Christian mysticism of Clement of Alexandria.
I assume such a conclusion to be only partially valid (definitely so in

Barnabas and Hebrews; perhaps also in Matthew and !John). Moreover,
Christian Jews who rejected the temple service might still keep the fast.
We can only be sure a group did not keep the fast if they explicitly polemicized against it (Barnabas, Diognet, Aristides). It is unlikely that Paul's
statements in Romans 3:25-26 and Galatians 3-4, which do not differ
The great importance of Yom Kippur for the early Christian Jews left its
greatly from Philo's spiritualization, imply a cessation of observance of

Yom Kippur, since Paul praises the temple service and accepts that parts of
the Roman community continue their observation of (Jewish) festivals.
330
traces in Christian Jewish texts throughout first century, in the traditions
that were later used by Barnabas, Hebrews and Romans (30-65 CE), in
Paul's letters (50-60 CE) and Hebrews (ca. 50-60 CE?), in Matthew (7080 CE), and in !John and Barnabas (ca. 95 CE?). Hebrews combined the
apocalyptic conception of a high-priestly redeemer appearing on an eschatological Yom Kippur with the idea of the atoning self-sacrifice. The
two were present but distinct in other Second Temple texts such as
II QMelchizedek and 2Maccabees. The depiction of Jesus as high priest
was most likely already current before Hebrews, and the high priesthood of
the non-Levite Jesus could be justified through the biblical precedent of a
high priest named Jesus in Zechariah 3. This passage was already connected to Yom Kippur in Jewish apocalyptic thought (Apocalypse ofAbraham). Concerning the scapegoat, the Christian Jewish imaginaire of Yom
Kippur differed to some extent from the "mainstream" Jewish imaginaire
and developed rather marginal conceptions. The majority of Jewish texts

associated the scapegoat with demonic powers and evil - e.g. Philo linked
it to evil thoughts and evil people- or even saw it as a sort of leader of the
evil angels as in /Enoch, 4Q!80 and the Apocalypse of Abraham. This
mainstream conception seems to stand behind Matthew's redaction of
Mark's Barabbas episode. For the Christian Jewish conception of the

scapegoat as a positive type (Barnabas, Galatians, !Peter?, John?), there
are only a few parallels- among them Josephus' narrative of Ananus and
the rabbinic statement on Ravya bar Qisi.
An influence of Jewish Yom Kippur prayers on Christian Jewish texts
(Colossians, Philippians, Barnabas as Seder Avodah) is possible, yet the

sources are too meager to make a defmite determination possible. In a later
331
Even more, Luke and his community can be shown to have observed the
fast, as did the opponents of the writer of the Epistle to the Colossians and
parts of the Roman community.
Several factors led to the Christian abandomnent of Yom Kippur and
the temple ritual as well as the fast. Historically and liturgically, the destruction of the temple, which ended the temple ritual, weakened the compulsion for a communal fast with prayers on a single special day. Hegesippus portrays James as permanently observing Yom Kippur, which may
imply transition from 10 Tishri to any day. Theologically, typological
interpretations of Yom Kippur played some role in the abolition of Yom
Kippur by causing some Christians to perceive the Christian myth and the
Jewish ritual as alternatives. Sociologically, Yom Kippur was for Gentile
Christians not so much a custom to be continued as a festival to be newly
adopted - a process possible only where the new custom could be sup-
ported by a Christian rationale. Since Christ died in Nisan and not in

Tishri, the main meaningful events of earliest Christianity were connected
to a different month. It speaks strongly in favor of the importance of Yom
Kippur in Christian Jewish life that a festival not cormected chronologically to the events around Christ's death- events that forged the collective
Christian identity - conceptually had so deep an impact on their most profound myth.
Yom Kippur continued to influence early Christianity even after the
destruction of the temple. The imagery of Yom Kippur's temple ritual be-
period, a Jewish sermon that may have been part of the Yom Kippur ser-
came increasingly attractive. Jesus' high priesthood and his identification

with the kapporet became topoi in Christian atonement theology and in ra-
vice, Pseudo-Philo On Jonah, found its way into Christian collections.'

I assume that most Christian Jews continued to observe the fast of Yom
Kippur. Only gradually did they cease to do what they were accustomed to
tionales for the Eucharist. The Christological scapegoat typology, too, was
widely used to illustrate Christ's atonement. While "bookish" influence of
the biblical Yom Kippur may partially explain tltis increase - Romans 3
observing. Unlike previous investigators, who often deduced from the use
of temple typology in a Christian author his rejection of the temple service,
become the "canon within the canon," and many exeand Hebrews had
getes wrote interpretations of Leviticus - I consider the Jewish fast of that
period to be also an important factor. Christianity and Judaism competed
See the appendix for the possibility that some Jewish Yom Kippur prayers found
their way into the Christian liturgy.
for the "true" way of atonement - the Christian myth versus the Jewish
ritual, in much simplified terms. Origen, Chrysostom and the Canons of
General Conclusions
General Conclusions
the Apostles provide evidence for the participation of a considerable

number of Christians in the Jewish fast in Syria-Palestine until at least the
late fourth century. These Christian theologians perceived this attraction as
threatening the distinction of the Christian identity from "fleshly" Judaism
by challenging the Christian conception of Christ's atoning death and its
rituals. Christian intellectual leaders reacted manifoldly to this challenge.
Origen's Homilies on Leviticus are the clearest proof of direct
interdependence between the polemics against Christian participation in
the Jewish fast and the development of a Christian alternative. The
Homilies expand the Christianization of Leviticus 16, starting with the
New Testament passages on Yom Kippur but adding further passages. In
this, Origen is the first to strongly promulgate Hebrews' sacrificial
herents to their concept of atonement. The Encaenia/Exaltation of the

Cross probably emerged as part of the growing impact of Old Testament
imagery following the Christian assumption of political and religious
authority in the land of the Bible- an effect I have called the "Ortsgeist of
the Holy Land." Concerning the Roman Fast of the Seventh Month, direct
extraordinary parallels between the Christian readings and the reading
attested for Yom Kippur. Leo the Great and other readings reveal a "negative" reactive impact of the contemporary Jewish fast. Finally, the annunciation to Zechariah is a re-ritualization of a Jewish-Christian legend using
texts pertaining to Yom Kippur in its Christian imaginaire (such as
Hebrews 9 and Zechariah 3). Its explicit connection to 10 Tishri in Chris-
atonement theology.
Several other Christian writers polemicize against the fast: Barnabas,
tian and Muslim calendrical computations demonstrates once again the

awareness of non-Jews of this date in the Jewish calendar.
332
Justin, Tertullian, Theodore! ofCyrns, Leo of Rome, Ephrem, Chrysostom

and perhaps also Eusebius and Basil. Most of these authors seem to be
acquainted with the Yom Kippur of their period, a fact that suggests Christian sages in other regions felt similarly threatened by the contemporary
Jewish fast and not simply by the. image of the biblical Day of Atonement.
The competition between Judaism and Christianity regarding the "true"
~'positive"
333
influence, perhaps by converted Jews, plausibly explains the
The results of this investigation support the assumption that early Christianity and early Judaism stood in a competition with each other that caused
a mutual influence. In the center of this competition stood the "dangerous
ones in between," Christians who continued to observe Yom Kippur and
responded to the challenge posed by Christian atonement theology by in-
Jews who felt a special affmity to Jesus. They aroused the scorn of theologians attempting to define the boundaries of the mainstream identity of
each side. Histories of Christian liturgy have yet to incorporate these "dan-
means of atonement, is apparent in Jewish texts, too. Jewish theologians

serting polemics against the Christian priesthood and the cross into Yom
gerous ones in between" into their approach to the Christian festal calendar
Kippur liturgical poems. Still, these factors cannot explain the increase in
the use of the scapegoat imagery to explain the rationale behind Christ's
of the first, second, third and even fourth centuries. Ritual and social reality seem to differ considerably from the theological ideals drawn up by the
death. It is not a development of canonic traditions, since references in the

New Testament are strictly implicit and seldom used as prooftexts. Barna-
Church Fathers and the rabbis, whose aim was to develop distinct identities. The two religions competed for centuries for the allegiance of these
'dangerous ones in between," proposing mutually exclusive interpretations
and re-ritualizations of Yom Kippur's temple ritual, which in reality was
bas proto-typology ceases to be used after Tertullian and Hippolytus probably because of its support for halakhic traditions. And it is not part of
the general Christianization of the Old Testament, since it also appears
apart from exegeses of Leviticus (e.g. in Origen, Ambrose, Jerome). In my
opinion, the proximity of the rationale of the scapegoat to the rationale of
the widely known pharmakos rituals endowed an increased use of the
scapegoat imagery with practical value in a pagan environment perhaps
less familiar with Old Testament stories.
Beyond the impact on the theology, at least three Christian festivals
celebrated closely to I 0 Tishri, emerged in response to the impact of Yom
Kippur on early Christianity: the important Encaenia/Exaltation of the
Cross in Jerusalem, the equally important Fast of the Seventh Month in
Rome and the marginal commemoration day of the annunciation to Zechariah in the East. The emergence of the first two festivals can be explained
in part against the background of Christians and Jews competing for ad-
no longer performed. Yet the two religions shared not only the common (if
different) canon of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, they also shared the
emphasis on sin and atonement and on the psychological need to regularly
expiate one's sins and/or propitiate God; and both formulated the ritual and
theological answer to this need in terms of Yom Kippur.
In this study, I have tried to scrutinize the Christian sources of the first
century as Jewish documents and to read them with "Jewish glasses." Taking up Marcel Simon's thesis regarding Cbrysostom's reaction to Christian
participation in Yom Kippur, I have attempted to draw a broader picture of

the influence of Yom Kippur on early Christianity after the destruction of
the temple. I have also tried to apply Israel Yuval's approach in understanding Christianity and Judaism as two religions emerging under a mutual competitive influence. Much remains to be done, and many of the
"'T
334
General Conclusions
conclusions have to be seen as tentative given the wide net cast by this
study.
.
I have tried to draw the main lines of the impact of Yom Ktppur on
early Christianity as a whole; a more differentiating investigation of the
patristic sources might perhaps reveal regional differences (among, for example, Syria-Palestine, Egypt, North Africa and the rest of the Latin
West) and especially some sort of correlation between the competthon
posed' by and the important influence of the local Jewish comm~ity. At
the start of my investigations, the Syriac sources were the corpus m which
I expected to find the most interesting texts and the strongest signs of competition between Christians and Jews and of Christian participation in the
fast. Yet lacking for the most part a comprehensive index for biblical citations and allusions or the assistance of a digitalized thesaurus, I am not
sure if the texts I found or others pointed out to me are representative. The
corpus of Syriac texts undoubtedly warrants further investigation.
A desideratum is an in-depth analysis of the post-biblical history of
Yom Kippur, ideally up to the present. A more meaningful comparison of
the patristic exegesis of Leviticus 16 and 23 with the rabbinic can. be
achieved only after a critical investigation of all relevant rabbnucal
sources, which I was unable to pursue comprehensively given the limited
scope of this project. The Christian impact on the Yom Kippur liturgy revealed in this study is very limited. I assume that there are many more
statements, omissions (such as the ignoring of Melchizedek in the early
Sidrei Avodah) and ritual developments that can be marshaled as reactwns
to Christian atonement theology and ritual. Furthermore, it would be
fascinating to examine the interpretations of the Mass by Amalar,
Hildebert and lvo, who explain the Eucharist wholly in terms of Yom
Kippur, including the scapegoat. It would be interesting to kno~ if their
intensification of the biblical terminology was in some way hnked to
Jewish traditions, or if it was purely an intra-Christian development.
Finally, an investigation of non-Jewish descriptions of Jewish festivals
might be another promising project, to reveal not only the level of knowledge but also the anthropological perceptions of the other and, via the
other, also of the self.
I
i
Appendix: Yom Kippur and Eastern Anaphoras

I. In a series of studies, Louis Ligier argues that Sidrei Avodah influenced
the so-called Clementine liturgy in the Apostolic Constitutions, 1 and that
the confession prayers 'Attah Yodea' Razei '0/am and 'AI Het affected
Eastern Christian anaphoras.2 Before Ligier, Erwin Goodenough and
Wilhelm Bousset also argued for a Jewish origin of the praefatio of the
Clementine liturgy 3 They, however, saw the root in the Jewish Yotzer
prayer - an unlikely thesis, as David Fiensy has demonstrated' Ligier has
the distinction of being the first Christian liturgist to have seriously studied
Sidrei Avodah, such as 'Azkir Gevurot 'E/oah and 'Attah Konanta '0/am
beRov Hesed.
Ligier's main arguments for the influence of the Sidrei Avodah on the
praefatio of the Clementine liturgy are their parallel liturgical locations
1 Apostolic Constitutions 8:12:1-15:11 (SC 336:176-217) are called the Clementine

liturgy.
2 L. Ligier, "Autour du sacrifice eucbaristique. Anaphores orientales et anamnese
juive de Kippur," Nouvelle Revue Thiologique 82 (1960) 40-55; idem, "Anaphores
orientales et prieres juives," Proche Orient Chritien 13 (1963) 3-20; idem, "Celebration
divine et anamnese dans la premiere partie de l'Anaphore ou Canon de Ia Messe Orientale," Gregorianum 48 (1967) 225-252; idem, Piche d'Adam etpiche du monde, val. 2,
pp. 289-307.
3 The praefatio covers 8:12:6-26 (SC 336:180-191). E. Goodenough, By Light Light
(New Haven, 1935), pp. 320-326; W. Bousset, "Eine jOdische Gebetssammlung im
siebenten Buch der Apostolischen Konstitutionen," Nachrichten von der Gesel/schaft der
Wissenschaften zu Gdttingen, Philosophisch-historische Klasse 1915, pp. 435-489 (here,
pp. 449-464) = Religionswissenschaftliche Studien. Aufsiitze zur Religionsgeschichte des
Hel/enistischen Zeitalters (ed. by A.F. Verheule; Supplements to Novum Testamentum
50; Leiden, 1979; pp. 231-285), here, pp. 244-259. Bousset argues for a Jewish background only of Apostolic Constitutions 8:12:9-20. See also K. Kohler, "The Origin and
Composition of the Eighteen Benedictions with a Translation of the Corresponding
Essene Prayers in the Aposto1ic Constitutions," Hebrew Union College Annual I (1924)
387-425, who, unlike Bousset and Goodenough, regards the prayers in book 8 as
thoroughly Christianized, "so that their former relation to the Benedictions of the Synagogue was entirely lost sight of' (p. 418), and discusses only prayers in book 7 of the
Apostolic Constitutions.
4 D. Fiensy, Prayers Alleged to Be Jewish. An Examination of the Constitutiones
Apostolorum (Brown Judaic Studies 65; Chico [Calif.], 1985), pp. 137-141 and 172-176.
Appendix
Appendix
and similarity of content-' Like the Jewish piyyut, the praefatio introduces
the ritual anamnesis of the sacrifice (the A vodah of the high priest I the
Eucharist). And like the Jewish piyyut, the praefatio recounts the creation
of the world and man, and continues with the history of sinful humanity
and a saving and punishing God - from Adam's sin, curse and restitution
to Joshua, via instances in which God sides with the just (Abel, Seth,
Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Lot, Abraham, Melchizedek, Job, Isaac, Jacob, Josef,
the exodus, Moses, Aaron) but chastises sinners (Adam, Cain, the deluge,
Sodom and the Red Sea). The long and detailed account distingnishes this
anaphora from all others. 6
Fiensy's arguments against Bousset and Goodenough are compelling
with regard to Ligier as well. He points out that many theological ideas in
the praefatio - providence, creation, man as a rational and cosmopolitan
being, knowledge of God - match ideas of special importance to the
compiler of the Apostolic Constitutions and are therefore unlikely to derive
from his Jewish source. 7 The special emphasis on creation and some of the
expressions of the praefatio correspond to phrases in Justin Martyr, Theophilus of Antioch and Cyril of Jerusalem concenting Christian worship, as
well as to later anaphoras. 8 Moreover, Ligier himself however remarks on
a number of dissonances. A number of Old Testament figures - Seth,
Enosh, Enoch, Melchizedek, Job, Josef and Joshua - do not appear in the
Sidrei Avodah. 9 Since various lists of Old Testament figures appear in
other redactional passages of the Apostolic Constitutions and in early
Christian literature the distant parallel is easier explained ~s incidenta1. 10
Finally, the position of the prayers in the Jewish and Christian liturgies in
fact differs -the Seder Avodah follows the Qedushah (Sanctus), whereas
the praefatio precedes the Sanctus.U In sum: the parallel to the Sidrei
Avodah is imprecise, and the single motifs appear elsewhere in Christian
liturgical context. New arguments are needed to shore up this thesis.
2. According to Ligier's second thesis, some Eastern Christian anaphoras

were influenced by the confession prayers 'Attah Yodea' Razei '0/am and
'AI Het, in that they show the following parallels. 12 First, the specific
enumeration of sins according to their gravity (voluntary or involuntary
sins; sins committed consciously or out of ignorance, in secret or in public,
deliberately or unintentionally; sins in thought, word or deed; known or
unknown sins); second, the invocation of God as knowing hidden and
secret matters and thoughts (based on Deuteronomy 29:28); third, a correspondence in the formula of three verbs for atonement/forgiveness (in
Greek: clvc<;, O.cpc<;, auyxOOpfJaov; in Syriac: .......___.~, ~~~. ""'------=<-), and
three substantives for kinds of sins to the Hebrew verbs n?o, ?n~ and ,OJ
with the nouns RUn, 1110 and ~1110; fourth, the position of the Christian
prayer following the sacrifice and connected to the remembrance of God. 13
In a book presently in press, Stephane Verhelst greatly refmes and
transforms Ligier's proposal. 14 That I engage simultaneously with Ligier
and Verhelst does not imply that their theses are identical. Ligier dates the
adoption of the Jewish prayer to the first or second century, while Verhelst
prefers the third. Also, both Ligier and Verhelst argne that the Christian
and Jewish confession prayers fulfill a similar liturgical function at a
similar liturgical place. They disagree, however, as to which. For Ligier,
the sacrificial interpretation of the Eucharist is foremost, whereas Verhelst
emphasizes the Mementos. As I do not have all the necessary material to
check these complicated argumentations, I will await the appearance in
print of Verhelst's interesting deliberations before engaging with this
point.
I have chosen to translate here the relevant passages of the two most
interesting of the many anaphoras they discuss, the Syriac St. James
Anaphora and the Syriac Cyril Anaphora. The former reads:
336
Ligier, "Autour du sacrifice eucharistique," p. 41-45; idem, "Celebration divine et

anamnese dans la premiere partie de l' Anaphore ou Canon de la Messe Orientale,"
pp. 245~247; idem, Pichi d'Adam et piche du monde, 2:289-307.
6 Ligier, "Autour du sacrifice eucharistique," p. 48; idem, Piche d'Adam et pichi du
monde, 2:295-297 and 301-302.
7
Fiensy, Prayers Alleged to Be Jewish, pp. 141 and 174-175
8
Fiensy, Prayers Alleged to Be Jewish, pp. 138-140.
9
Ligier, Piche d'Adam et piche du monde, 2:297, notes 184 and 185 and p. 302 ..
Ligier regards Melchizedek, Job, Josef and Joshua as Christian additions. Seth, Enoch
and Henoch appear in Sir 49:14-16.
10 E.g. Apostolic Constitutions 2:55:1, 5:7:12, 6:12:13, 7:5:5; Hebrews 11; James 5:11
and 5:17; I Clement 1-12: see Fiensy, Prayers Alleged to Be Jewish, p. 136.
11 Ligier, Pch d'Adam et pch du monde, 2:295.
I The people: Pardon, forgive.

2 The priest: Pardon(........_.....), forgive (-<1----...!o-<},
(..._ltu..u..............}
3 those [committed] willingly (
~)
4
and those unwillingly,
)
5 those committed knowingly(-<
337
remit(~),
God, our lapses
12
L. Ligier, "Penitence et Eucharistic en Orient Tbeologie sur une interference de
prieres et de rites," Orienta/ia Christiana Periodica 29 (1963) 5-78, esp. pp. 48---62.
13
Ligier, "Penitence et Eucharistic en Orient," pp. 5Q-56.
14 S. Verhelst, "Une formule du Y8m Kippour." In: idem, Les traditions judeo-chretiennes dans Ia Liturgie de saint Jacques. (forthcoming). I would like to express my
deepest gratitude to Stephane Verhelst for sending me this part of his book prior to its
publication and for discussing it with me via e-mail.
338
Appendix
Appendix
6
and those unknowingly,
7 those committed in word, in deed and in thought,
8 those concealed (
)
10 and for sins that we sinned before you willfully (111iJ),

11 for sins that we sinned before you secretly (,no::t)
12 and for sins that we sinned before you openly ('l'lJ),

13 and for sins for which we are obligated to bring an'' 'Aseh-sacrifice,"
14 and for sins for which we are obligated to bring a "Lo Ta 'aseh sheNataq
le'Aseh-sacrifice,"
15 and for sins for which we incur death at the hands of the Heaven,
16 and for sins for which we incur excision,
17 and for sins for which we incur forty lashes by the court,
18 and for sins for which we incur beheading, strangling, burning and stoning,
19 for those that are known to us
20 and for those that are not known to us,
21 those that are revealed to us and those that are not known to us are already
known to you
22 as it is said, the concealed [things] are for GOD and the revealed [things] are
9
and those revealed(~),
10 those foreknown to the erring,
II those your holy name knows.ts
The Syriac Cyril Anaphora reads:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
The people: Pardon, forgive.

The priest: Knower of the hidden [things], judge of the thoughts.
Let pass and erase all our sins,
[those] known
and those not known,
[those] committed willingly
and those unwillingly,
[those] hidden
ours and our children'sforever, that we may fulfill a// the words of this
Torah. 20
23 Since you are the forgiver oflsrael and the pardoner of the tribes ofYeshurun
in every generation, and apart from you we have no king who pardons and
forgives. 21
9
and revealed
10 [those] of now and [those] of previous time and [those] of the future ... 16
Unfortunately, Ligier was not yet able to use Daniel Goldschmidt's introduction to and edition of Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on. Some ofLigier's keen
philological perceptions are therefore based on incorrect textual assumptions. Moreover, even if one uses Goldschmidt as Verhelst does, the text of
the prayers in Seder Rav 'Amram Ga 'on is too corrupt to be useful for
reconstructions. The oldest extant reliable version of 'Attah Yodea' Razei
'0/am/ 'AI Het is therefore to be found in Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on:
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
You know the secrets of the universe ( 'Attah Yodea' Razei '0/am ),
and the hidderunost mysteries of all the living.
You probe all innermost chambers 11

and see kidneys and heart 18
Absolutely nothing is hidden from you and nothing is concealed from your
eyes.
May it be your will, GOD, our God
that you pardon us (?mnn) for all our iniquities (ununll)
and you atone (,!l:lll) for us for all our willful sins (1l"3li11:J). 19
For sins ('AI Het) that we sinned before you carelessly (;rll1!7J)
15
My translation of the Syriac text in 0. Heiming, "Anaphora Sancti Iacobi, fratris
Domini," in Anaphorae Syriacae II/3 (Rome, 1953; pp. 107-177), p. 168. Cf. A. RUcker,
Die syrischen Jakobosanaphora nach der Rezension des Ja 'qob(h) von Edessa. Mit de11i
griechischen Paralleltext herausgegeben (Liturgiegeschichtliche Quellen 4; MUnster in
Westfalen, 1923), p. 44.
16
My translation of the Syriac text in A. Raes, "Anaphora Cyrilli Hierosolymitani vel
Alexandrini," inAnaphorae Syriacae I/3 (Rome, 1944; pp. 323-363), p. 356.
17
Prov 20:27.
18
Jer 11:20.
19 See y Yom a 8:9, 45c, for the text see above, p. 52, note 197.
339
Ligier and Verhelst point out that the Christian confession prayers use
three different verbs expressing the idea of forgiveness corresponding to
three kinds of sins, and they see 'Allah Yodea' Razei '0/am as in Seder
Rav 'Amram Ga 'on as model for this expression. 22 Verhelst points also to
the confession prayer at the end of Yoma in the Palestinian Talmud and to
the uvekhen additions to the Amidab. In Seder Rliil Sa'adia Ga'on, the
oldest and best text of 'Allah Yodea' Razei '0/am, however, only two
verbs (':>mon, 1~Jn) and two substantives (1l'n1l11Y, 1l'Yl119) appear in a single sentence (lines 7-8). In addition, the oldest witness to the confession in
the Palestinian Talmud, the Leiden manuscript, also reports only two verbs
and two substantives. A later scribe added a third verb and substantive to
the Talmudic passage as well as to the 'Allah Yodea' Razei '0/am in Seder
Rav 'Amram Ga'on and the modern versions. 23 The threefold confession
prayer is apparently a later adaption of Leviticus 16. Equally, the uvekhen
additions to the Amidah, which mention all .three verbs, are absent from
20
Deut 29:28.
My translation of the text given in ed. Davidso:n, Asaf and Yoel, pp. 259-260, based
on the translation of the modern Ashkenazy rite by Scherman, The Complete ArtScro//
Machzor Yom Kippur Nusach Ashkenaz, pp. 19-25.
22
While the three verbs in the Christian texts do not include an exact equivalent for
1gJ, Verhelst refers to a Georgian version of the prayer that uses a plausible equivalent of
21
,~J.
23
mYoma 3:8; yYoma 8:9, 45c, c[ the discussion in bYoma 36b and Leviticus Rabbah 3:3. These passages have been discussed by Verbelst.
340
Appendix
Appendix
Seder Rav Sa 'adia Ga 'on and from almost all Palestinian witnesses to the
Yom Kippur liturgy. 24 It seems more conceivable to me that the Christian
authors, too, developed the three-partite formula inspired by the biblical
text rather than by Jewish liturgy.
A much stronger argument is that the Jewish and Christian confession
prayers list particular kinds of sins: voluntary or involuntary sins, sins
committed secretly or openly, and hidden or revealed sins. While Ligier
and Verhelst use Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on, I will list the parallels
according to Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on, whose prayer texts are more
trustworthy:
given in the other prayers, this can be easily explained. Concerning the
variation in content, Cluistians would neither feel a need for the two kinds
of sins connected to sacrifices nor to the types of sins related to death
penalties, given in Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on. The more general categories
of sins in the two Christian anaphoras could therefore be explained as
substitutes for the specific halakhic Jewish types. Regarding the variation
in sequence, one may raise the argument that the Christian anaphoras vary
among themselves and may have attached little significance to the order.
Giving a list of possible sins in a confes.sion prayer is not an uncommon
phenomenon. Those wishing to confess want to be sure ~o cover all eventualities. However, the parallels are rather close and the differences can be
justified.
Finally, the Cyril Anaphora and 'Attah Yodea' Razei '0/am invoke God
as knowing secret matters and thoughts. This idea is based on Deuteronomy 29:28, a verse quoted at the end of 'Attah Yodea' Razei '0/am (line 22)
and could, therefore, again speak for a parallel adaption of biblical
traditions. 25 God's omniscience, his knowledge of concealed matters, is
mentioned in many ptayers. 26 Ligier emphasizes, however, that the combination of this idea with a confession prayer appears only in 'Attah Yodea' Razei 'Olam and the Christian prayers. The present investigation has
shown that we find it also in Qumran, Pseudo-Philo and inscriptions on
steles in Delos, in texts very likely connected with Yom K.ippur. 27 While
the biblical model may have influenced the Christian and Jewish prayers
independently, the cumulative evidence supports a direct link.
In sum, the similarity between the Jewish and Christian prayers is more
likely rooted in a genealogical than in a phenomenological relation. A
close reading of the philological arguments of Ligier and Verhelst reveals
that the parallels may point beyond the common use of biblical language to
direct liturgical cOimections- i.e. adoption rather than biblical influence. 28
Whether or not Ligier's and Verhelst's theses are correct, they are among
the best examples of the profound impact of Yom Kippur on early
Christianity. If we remain skeptical, some Christian liturgies of the Eucharist were formulated according to the biblical model of Yom Kippur. Not
only did the celebrant of the Eucharist become the high priest and the
Syriac James-Anaphora
parallel
types
of sins
3 willingly (
4 unwillingly
5 knowingly(
'Allah Yodea' Razei

'0/am ('AI Het) in Seder
,...,)
)
6 unknowingly
varying
types
of sins
8 concealed (
9 revealed f
?a in word,
7b in deed
7c and in thought,
)
'
10 foreknown to the erring,

II your holy name knows
Rav Sa 'adia Ga 'on

10 willfully {11m)
9 carelessly (:lllWJ)
19 known to us
20 not known to us
II secretly (1no:1)
12 open!y{l?lO)
13 for which we are
obligated to bring an
"'Aseh-sacrifice"
14 for which we are
obligated to bring a
"Lo Ta 'aseh
sheNataq le 'Aseh-
Syriac St.
Cyril-Anaphora
6 willingly
7 unwillingly
4 known
5 not known
8 hidden
9 revealed
10 ofnow
11 and of
previous
time
12 and of the
future
sacrifice"
15 for which we incur
death at the hands of
the Heaven
excision
forty lashes by the
court
beheading,
strangling, burning
and stonine:
As the table shows, the sins of types 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 in the Syriac JarnesAnaphora match the sins 10, 9, 19, 20, II, 12 in 'Allah Yodea' Razei
'0/am according to Seder Rav Sa 'adia Ga 'on. Although the sins do not
appear in the same exact order and each prayer lists a number of sins not
24
341

See foi- example the rabbinic prayers 7, 15, 16, 27, 31, 34 and 35 in the list given in
Heinemann, Prayer in the Period of the Tanna'im and the Amora'im, pp. 131-137; and
the prayer in Aramaic Levi (4Q213a 1 i 10--11) I additions to the Testament ofLevi2:3 in
manuscript Mount Athos.
27
See above, p. 39 and p. 48, note 172.
28 On the types of influence, see above, pp. 4--6.
25
26
342
Appendix
church building the temple, but Christian confession prayer also became
the confession prayer in the temple on Yom Kippur. 29 lfwe accept Ligier's
and Verhelst's observation that the parallels are too close to derive solely
from biblical influence, some liturgies of the Eucharist used contemporary
Jewish liturgies of Yom Kippui3 as source - via Jewish converts to
Christianity," Jewish Christians" or God-fearers. 33 Keeping in mind the
late Jewish influence on the readings of the Fast of the Seventh Month, the
prayer may have crossed the lines even after the third century. Last but not
least, I would like to remind that we should not deny a priori the
possibility that the influence may have been mutual. The parallel list of six
sins is not attested in Second Temple sources and may equally have its
origin in Christian congregations, which in turn influenced 'Attah Yodea'
Razei '0/am. Verhelst's reappraisal and review of this part ofLigier's theses demonstrates aroply that further discoveries may be made in the study
of the relation of early Christian Anaphoras to Jewish liturgy.
3. Along similar lines, one could argue that another prayer from the eighth
book of the Apostolic Constitutions, included among those defined as Jewish by Bousset and Goodenough," may have been part of a Yom Kippur
prayer (the phrases in italics have been explained by Goodenough as
Christian interpolations):
0 almighty eternal God,
lord of the universe
creator and chief of everything,
who showed forth man as a an ornament of the cosmos (K6alJ.ou K6ey.ov)
through Christ,
and gave an implanted and written law to him,
so that he might live lawfully as a rational being,
and gave to the sinner your own goodness,
as a pledge to lead him to repentance;
look upon those who have bent the neck of their soul and body to you, because
He does not desire the death of the sinner, but his repentance,
so that he might turn back from his way of evil, and live! 35
He accepted the repentance of the Ninevites;
he desires all men to be saved, and to come to a knowledge of truth;
29
30
On this phenomenon of templization, see above, pp. 273-277.
Or, as Verhelst suggests, the confession on Mondays and Thursdays.

Ligier "Nnitence et Eucharistic en Orient," p. 57.
32
Verhelst.
33
A possibility that has always to be taken into consideration.
34
Bousset, "Eine jfidische Gebetssanunlung im siebenten Buch der Apostolischen
Konstitutionen," p. 278; Goodenough, By Light Light, pp. 331-332.
35
Ezek 33:11.
31
Appendix
343
he accepted with fatherly feelings the son who had consumed his life's savings
with loose living, because ofhis repentance. 36
Also now yourself receive from your supplicants their change of mind;
for there is no one who will not sin against you!
For, if you, should watch lawlessness closely, Lord,
Lord, who could stand his ground?
Because with you there is the atonement (0 iAaOJ10c;)J37
Several elements are reminiscent of Yom Kippur: God,s kingship, creation

and compassion, the giving of the law, the power of repentance, the
Ninevites and 6 il.ao~o<;. The quotation from Ezekiel33:11 appears also in
the confession prayer of the Ne 'ilah in Seder Rav Sa 'adia Ga 'on. 38 Yet
nothing points specifically to Jewish authorship, and the prayer may be a
Christian plea for divine mercy. 39
4. Finally, almost a century ago, Henri Leclerq argued for an influence of
Yom Kippur piyyutim on the ordo commendationis animae. He compared
the list of Old Testament figures in the ordo commendationis animae
whose appeals in dangerous situations were heeded by God with similar
lists in Mishnah Ta 'anit and various medieval pi_v.yutim for public fasts. 40
The lists, however, vary greatly; many of the characters in the ordo do not
appear in the piyyutim,41 and vice versa.42 I would rather argue that a common psychological urge causes the supplicant to call upon previous instances of divine intervention.43
36
Cf. Luke 15:11-32.

Apostolic Constitutions 8:9:8-9 (SC 336: 164---165). I have adapted the translation of
D.R. Darnell and D.A. Fiensy, "Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers," in: J. Charlesworth (ed.),
The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2 (New York, 1985; pp. 671-698), here p. 689
(number 11 ).
311
See Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (ed. Davidson, Yael and Asaf, p. 262).
39
See Fiensy, Prayers Alleged to be Jewish, pp. 146-147; Darnell and Fiensy,
"Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers," p. 689, note 11b.
40
mTa'an 2:1. H. Leclerq, "Defunts," Dictionnaire d'archiologie chritienne et de
liturgie 4 (1921) 427-456, here p. 438. I would like to thank Margot Stroumsa-Uzan for
drawing my attention to this thesis.
41
Enoch, Job, Lot, Susanna and, of course, the Christian figures Peter, Paul and
Thecla.
42
Aaron, Pinbas, Joshua, Elisha, Hezekiah and Mordechai.
43
Interesting also is the addition of the equivalent for atonement {wm.nqalllh) to some
Armenian anaphoras (Sahak, Gregory of Nazianz, Cyril of Alexandria, Athanasius). I
would like to thank Daniel Findikyan for corresponding on this point, which awaits
further elaboration.
37
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(1948) 185-294. [Hebrew].
Piyyutim and Prayers: see Ashkenazy Mahzor, Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on, Seder Rav
Sa'adia Ga'on, Samaritan Liturgy, Yannai and Yosse ben Yosse.
Psalms ofSolomon
Wright, R.B ...Psalms of Solomon." In: J.H. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament
Psalms Rabbah
Braude, W. The Midrash on Psalms. (2 vols; New Haven, 1959). [English translation].
Buber, S. Midrash Tehillim. (Wilna, 1892; repr. Jerusalem, 1967). [Hebrew]_
T'
Bibliography
351
Pseudo-Philo: see alSo Liber Antiquitatum Bib/icarum.

Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah
Siegert, F. Drei hellenistisch-jUdische Predigten. Ps.-Philon, 'Ober Jona ', 'Ober Simson'
und 'Ober die Gottesbezeichnung wohlUitig verzehrendes Feuer'. Vol. I:
Obersetzung aus dem Armenischen und sprachliche Erlauterungen. Vol. 2:
Kommentar nebst Beobachtungen zur he/lenistischen Vorgeschichte der
Bibelhermeneutik. (2 vols; Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen
Testament 20, 61; Tiibingen, 1980, 1992}. [German translation].
Samaritan Liturgy
Cowley, A. The Samaritan Liturgy (2 vols; Oxford, 1909).
Samaritan Pentateuch: see Targumim.
Seder Eliyahu Zuta
Friedmann, M. Seder Eliahu rabba und Seder Eliahu zuta (!'anna debe Eliahu). Nach
einem vaticanischen Manuscripte aus dem Jahre J"'mn (I073) ediert, kritisch
bearbeitet und commentiert. (Vienna, 1902; repr. Jerusalem, 1969). [Hebrew].
Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on
Goldschmidt, D. Seder Rav 'Amram Ga 'on. Edited according to Manuscripts and Prints
with Additions, Variant Lections and Introduction. (Jerusalem, 1971).
[Hebrew/Aramaic].
Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on
Davidson, Y., S. Asafand Y. YaeL Siddur R. Sa'adja Ga'on. (Jerusalem, 1941}. [Arabic
text with Hebrew translation].
Shiv'at Yamim
Elbogen, I. Studien zur Geschichte des jiidischen Gottesdienstes. (Schriften der
Lebranstalt fiir die Wissenschaft des Judenthwns l/I-2; Berlin, 1907). [Hebrew].
Sibylline Oracles
Collins, J.J ...Sibylline Oracles." In: J. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha. Vol. I (New York, 1983; pp. 317--472). [English translation].
Geffcken, J. Dracula Sibyllina. (GCS 8; Leipzig 1902). [Greek text].
Sifra
Finkelstein, L. Sifra on Leviticus according to Vatican Manuscript Assemani 66 with
variants from the other manuscripts, Genizah fragments, early editions and
quotations by medieval authorities and with references to parallel passages and
commentaries. (4 vols; New York, 1983-1990}. [Hebrew].
Weiss, I.H. Sifra. (Vienna, 1862, repr. New York 1947).
Sojerim
Bigger, M. Seven Minor Treatises. (New York, 1930).
Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q400-407; 11Q17)
Newsom, C. Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice: A Critical Edition. (Harvard Semitic Studies
27;Atlanta [Ga.], 1985).
Songs of the Sage (4Q510 and 4Q511)
Baillet, M. Qumran grotte 4.111. (4Q482-4Q520). Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 7;
Oxford, 1982; 215-262).
The Story of the Ten Martyrs
Reeg, G. Die Geschichte von den Zehn Mtirtyrern. (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism
10; Tiibingen, 1985). [Hebrew and German translation].
Talmud, Babylonian
Goldschmidt, L. Der Babylonische Talmud. (9 vols; Berlin 1897-1935).
[Hebrew/Aramaic and German translation].
352
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Rabbinovicz, R. Diqduqey Soferim. Variae Lectiones in Mischnam et in Talmud
Vitae Prophetarum
See Pseudo-Epiphanius under "Christian and Gnostic Literature."
War Scroll (1 QM)
Sukenik, E.L. The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Hebrew University. (Jerusalem, 1955).
Yalqut Shim'oni
Hyman, D., D.N. Lerrer and I. Shiloni. Yalqut Shim'oni 'al haTorah leRabbenu Shim'on
haDarshan. (9 vols; Jerusalem, 1973-1991). [Hebrew].
Yannai
Rabinovitz, Z.M. The Liturgical Poems of Rabbi Yannai according to the Triennial Cycle
of the Pentateuch and the Holidays. Critical Edition with Introduction and
Commentary. (2 vols; Jerusalem, 1985, 1987). [Hebrew].
Zulai, M. Piyyutey Yannai. (Berlin, 1938). [Hebrew].
Yosse ben Yosse
Mirsky, A. Yosse ben Yosse Poems. Edited with an Introduction, Commentary and Notes.
(Jerusalem, 2 1991, 1977). [Hebrew].
Babylonicum quum ex aliis libris antiquissimis et scrip/is et impressis tum e

Codice Monacensi praestantissimo co/lectae, annotationibus instructae. Pars 4.
Tract. Rosch Haschanah et Joma. (Munich, 1871). [Hebrew/Aramaic].
Steinsaltz, A Talmud Bavli, Massekhet Yoma Menuqad uMevu'ar. (Jerusalem, 1983).
[Hebrew/Aramaic and Hebrew translation].
Wilna print, reprint Jerusalem, no date. [Hebrew/Aramaic].
Talmud, Palestinian
Avemarie, F. Yoma - Versohnungstag. (Obersetzung des Talmud Yerushalmi 2:4;
Tiibingen, 1995). [German translation].
Schafer, P. and H.J. Becker. Synapse zum Talmud Yerushalmi. (Texts and Studies in
Ancient Judaism 31, 33, 35, 47, 67, 82, 83; 7 vols; Ttibingen 1991-2001).
[Hebrew/Aramaic].
Venice 1523-24, reprint Jerusalem, no date. [Hebrew/Aramaic].
Targumim
Clarke, E. G. et al. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan of the Pentateuch: Text and Concordance.
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Diez Macho, A. et al. Neophyti I. Targum Palestinense MS de Ia Biblioteca Vaticana.
Torno Ill. Levitico. Edici6n principe, introducci6n y versiOn castellana, frances a y
inglesa. (Barcelona, 1971). [Aramaic and Spanish, French and English
translations].
Ginsburger, M. Pseudo-Jonathan (Thargum Jonathan ben Usiel zum Pentateuch). Nach
der Londoner Handschrift (Brit. Mus. add. 27031). (Berlin, 1903). [Aramaic].
Maher, M. "Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Leviticus. Translated with Notes." In: M.
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Testament of Solomon
McCown, C. C. The Testament ofSolomon. (Leipzig, 1922). [Greek text].
Duling, D.C. "Testament of Solomon." In: J. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha. Vol. 1 (New York, 1983; pp. 935-987). [English translation].
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
DeJonge, M. (in cooperation with H.W. Ho1lander, H.J. de Jonge and T. Korteweg). The
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text].
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Tosefta
Larsson, G6ran. Der Toseftatraktat Jom hak-Kippurim. Text, Obersetzung, Kommentar. I.
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first chapters].
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Zuckennandel, M.S. Tosefia. (With supplements by S. Lieberman; Jerusalem, 1937, repr.
1970).
'
'
ii;
T
.~
1. 3 Christian and Gnostic Literature

1.3.1 General Collections
The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325;
Grand Rapids [Mich.], 1986-1989, repr. of Edinburgh 1885-1896. [ANF].
Corpus Christianorum Series Latina; Turnhout, 1954ff. [CCSL].
Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium; Paris, Rome and Louvain, 1903ff.
[CSCO].
Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum; Vienna, 1866ff. [CSEL].
Elliott, J.K. The Apocryphal New Testament. A Collection of Apocryphal Christian
Literature in an English Translation. (Oxford and New York, 1993).
Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten Jahrhunderte; Berlin, 1897ff.
[GCS].
Hennecke, E. and W. Schneemelcher. Neutestamentliche Apokryphen in deutscher
Obersetzung. (Tfibingen, 6 1989-1990).
Patrologiae Cursus Completus. Series Graeca; 161 vols; Paris. 1857-1866. [PG].
Patrologiae Cursus Completus. Series Latina; 221 vols; Paris, 1841-1864. [PL].
Patrologia Orientalis; Turnhout, 1903ff. [PO].
Robinson, J.M. The Nag Hammadi Library in English. (Leiden, 3 1988).
A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. First
Series. (14 vols; Grand Rapids [Mich.], Edinburgh, 1988. repr. of Edinburgh
1886-1890). A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the
Christian Church. Second Series. (14 vols; Grand Rapids [Mich.], Edinburgh.
1988, repr. of Edinburgh 1885-1896). [NPNF]
Sources Chretiennes; Paris, 194lff. [SC].
Thesaurus Linguae Graecae. Version 8 [TLG].
Wengst, K. Didache (Apostellehre), Barnabasbrief, Zweiter Klemensbrief, Schrift an
Diognet. Eingeleitet, herausgegeben, iibertragen und erliiutert. (Schriften des
Urchristentums 2; Darmstadt, 1984).
1.3 .2 Works according to Author and Title

lClement: See Apostolic Fathers.
Alexander the Monk, On the Finding of the Venerable and Life-giving Cross
PG 87:3:4021-84. [Greek and Latin translation].
Bibliography
Bibliography
Alexios Aristenos: see Tripartite Commentary to the Conciliar Legislation.

Amalar
Hanssens, J.M. Amalarii episcopi opera liturgica omnia. (Studi e Testi 138-140; Vatican
City, 1948-1950). [Latin].
Ambrose, Commentary on Luke
Adriaen, M. Sancti Ambrosii Mediolanensis Opera. Pars IV. Expositio Evangelii
secundum Lucam. Fragmenta in Esaiam. (CCSL 14; Tumhout, 1957). [Latin].
Ambrose, Letters
Faller, 0. Sancti Ambrosii Opera. Pars Decima. Epistulae et Acta. Tom. !. Epistularum
libri I-VI. (CSEL 82:1; Vienna, 1968). [Latin].
Anaphoras: See Cyril of Jerusalem and James.
Andreas of Crete, In exaltationem S. Crucis orationes l-2
PG 97:1017-1036, 1035-1045. [Greek text and Latin translation].
Anonymous from-Jerusalem, Commentary on Luke
Reuss, J. Lukas-Kommentare aus der griechischen Kirche. Aus Katenenhandschriften
gesammelt und herausgegeben. (Texte und Untersuchungen 130; Berlin, 1984),
pp. 15-53. [Greek].
Anonymous, Commentary on Mark: See Pseudo-Jerome.
Apostolic Constitutions
Metzger, M. Les Constitutions Apostoliques. (3 vols; SC 320, 329, 336; Paris, 1985,
1986, 1987). [Greek text and French translation].
Apostolic Fatbers
Holmes, M.W. The Apostolic Fathers. Greek Texts and English Translations. (Grand
Rapids [Mich.], 2 1999). [Greek text and English translation].
Aristides, Apology (Syriac)
Alpigiano, C. Aristide di Atene. Apologia (Biblioteca Patristica II; Florence, 1988).
[Italian translation].
Hennecke, E. Die Apologie des Aristides. Recension und Rekonstruktion des Textes.
(Texte und Untersuchungen 4:3; Leipzig, 1893}.
Atbanasius, On Sabbaths and Circumcision: See Pseudo-Athanasius.
Athaoasius, Testimonia e scriptura: See Pseudo-Athanasius.
Augustine, Locutionum in Heptateuchum tiber tertius
Fraipont, I. Sancti Aurelii Augustini Quaestionum in Heptateuchum libri VII. Locutionum
in Heptateuchum libri VII De octo quaestionibus ex veteri Testamento. (CCSL 33;
Turnhout, 1958; pp. 424-431). [Latin].
Augustine, Quaestionum in Heptateuchum liber tertius
Fraipont,l. Sancti Aurelii Augustini Quaestionum in Heptateuchum libri VII. Locutionum
in Heptateuchum libri VII. De octo quaestionibus ex veteri Testamento. (CCSL 33;
Turnhout, 1958; pp. 175-233). [Latin].
Barnabas
Prigent, P. and R.A. Kraft. i:pitre de Barnabe. (SC 172; Paris, 1971). [Greek text and
French translation].
Basil, Homily on Fasting 1
PG 31:164-184. [Greek text and Latin translation].
Canons of the Apostles
Linder, A. The Jews in the Legal Sources of the Early Middle Ages. (Detroit [Mich.] and
Jerusalem, 1997), numbers 1/1-4, pp. 26--27 and 104/947-950, pp. 562-563.
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Chronikon Paschale
Dindorf, L. Chronikon Paschale. (Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae; Bonn, 1832
= PG 92:67-1028). [Greek text and Latin translation].
Whitby, Michael and Mary. Chronicon Paschale 284-628 AD. (Translated Texts for
Historians 7; Liverpool, 1989). [English translation].
Cbrysostom, Fragmenta in Prouerbia (in catenis)
PG 64:659-740. [Greek and Latin translation].
Chrysostom, In laudem conceptionis sancti Joannis Baptistae: See PseudoChrysostom.
Clement of Alexandria, Excerpts from Theodotus
Casey, R.P. The Excerpta ex Theodoto of Clement of Alexandria. Edited with
Translation, Introduction and Notes. (Studies and Documents 1; London, 1934).
Sagnard, F. Clement d'Alexandrie. Extraits de Theodote. Texte grei:, introduction,
traduction et notes. (SC 23; Paris, 1948). {Greek text and French translation].
Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis
Cleveland Coxe, A. in ANF 2:299-567. [English translation].
Le Boulluec, A. Clement d'Alexandrie. Les Stromateis. Stromate V. Tome I. Introduction,
texte critique {traduction] et index. Tome II. commentaire, bibliographie et index.
(SC 278-279; Paris, 1981}. [Greek text with French translation].
SUihlin, 0., L. Frilchtel, and U. Treu. Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. II and III. (2 vols.;
GCS 52, 17; Berlin, 4 1985; 2 1970). [Greek].
Comes of Alcuin
Chavasse, A. Les {ectionnaires romains de Ia Messe au VIle et VIIIe sicles (2 vols;
Spicilegii Friburgensis Subsidia 22; Fribourg, 1993).
Comes of Wiinburg
Chavasse, A. Les lectionnaires romains de Ia Messe au VIle et VIIIe sicles (2 vols;
Spicilegii Friburgensis Subsidia 22; Fribourg, 1993).
Cosmas lndicopleustes, Christian Topography
Wolska-Conus, W. Cosmos Indicopleustes. Topographie Chretienne. (SC 141, 159, 197;
Paris, 1968, 1970, 1973). [Greek text and French translation].
Council of Laodicea
Jerusalem, 1997), number 66/806-807, pp. 463. [Greek text and English
translation of the relevant passage].
Council ofTrullanum
Jerusalem, 1997), nwnber 64/802-803, pp. 459-460. [Greek text and English
Cyprian, Letters
Clarke, G.W. The Letters of St. Cyprian of Carthage. (3 vols; Ancient Clrristian Writers
44,46 and 47; New York, 1984-1989). [English translation].
Diercks, G.F. Sancti Cypriani Episcopi Epistu/arum. (2 vols; CCSL 3b and 3c; Turnhout,
1994, 1996). [Latin].
Cyprianus Gallus, Heptateuchos
Peiper, R. Cypriani Galli Poeta Heptateuchos. (CSEL 23; Vienna, 1891). [Latin].
Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary in Isaiah
Cyril of Alexandria, Contra lulianum
354
355
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Bibliography
Burguiere, P. and P. Evieux. Cyrille d'Alexandrie. Contre Julien. Introduction, texte

critique, traduction et notes. (SC 322; Paris, 1985). [Greek text and French
Diognetus: See Apostolic Fathers.

Egeria, Diary
Gingras, G.E. Egeria: Diary of a Pilgrimage. Translated and Annotated (Ancient
Christian Writers 38; New York and Ramsey [N.J.], 1970). [English translation].
Maraval, P. Egirie. Journal de Voyage (ltiniraire). Introduction, texte critique,
traduction, notes, index et cartes. (SC 296; Paris, 1982). [Latin text and French
translation].
Epbrem, (Armenian) Commentary on Leviticus: See Pseudo-Ephrem.
Ephrem, (Syriac) Commentary on Leviticus: See Pseudo-Ephrem.
Ephrem, Commentary on Exodus
Amar, J.P., E.G. Mathews, and K. McVey. St. Ephrem the Syrian. Selected Prose Works.
Commentary on Genesis. Commentary on Exodus. Homily on our Lord. Letter to
Pub/ius. (Fathers of the Church 91 ~ Washington D.C., 1994). [English translation].
Tonneau, R.-M. Sancti Ephraem Syri in Genesim et in Exodum Commentarii.
(CSCO 152-153, Scriptores Syri 71-72; Louvain, 1955). [Syriac text and Latin
translation].
Epbrem, Commentary on the Diatessaron
Leloir, L. Commentaire de I 'Evangile Concordant ou Diatessaron. Traduit du syriaque et
de l'armenien, introduction, traduction et notes. (SC 121; Paris, 1966). [French
translation].
McCarthy, C. Saint Ephrem's Commentary on Tatian's Diatessaron: an English
Translation of Chester Beatty Syriac MS 709 with Introduction and Notes.
(Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement 2; Oxford, 1993). [English translation].
Epbrem, Homilies on Fasting
Beck, E. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen de Ieiunio. (CCSO 246-247;
Scriptores Syri 106-107; Louvain, 1964). [Syriac text and German translation].
Epbrem, Homily on the Nativity
Beck, E. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen De Nativitate. (CSCO 186-187,
Scriptores Syri 82-83; Louvain, 1959). [Syriac text and German translation].
Graffin, F. and F. Cassingena-Trevedy. Ephrem de Nisibe. Hymnes sur Ia Nativitti.
(SC 459; Paris, 2001). [French translation].
McVey, K.E. Ephraem the Syrian Hymns. (Classics of Western Spirituality; New York,
1989; pp. 61-217). [English translation].
Epbrem, Homily on the Exaltation of the Cross
Heid, S. "Zwei an den Enkainien der Jerusalemer Grabeskirche gehaltene Predigten des
griechischen Ephram." Oriens Christianus 84 (2000) 1-22. [Greek text and
German translation].
Epiphanius, Commentary on Luke: See Pseudo-Epiphanius.
Epipbaoius, De prophetarum vita et obitu: See Pseudo-Epiphanius.
Epipbanius, De xii gemmis
Blake, R.P. and H. de Vries. Epiphanius de Gemmis. The Old Georgian Version and the
Fragments of the Armenian Version by R.P. Blake and the Coptic-Sahidic
Fragments by H. De Vis. (Studies and documents 2; London, 1934).
Epiphanius, Panarion
Holl, K. Epiphanius I-III. Ancoratus und Panarion (GCS 25, 31, 37; Leipzig, 1915,
!922, !933). [Greek].
Williams, F. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis. (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean
Studies 35, 36; Leiden, 1987, 1994). [English translation].
356
translation of the ftrst books].

Cyril of Alexandria, Epistula 41. Ad Acacium Episcopum Scythopolis
McEnerney, J.l. St. Cyril of Alexandria: Letters. (Fathers of the Church 76-77;
Washington 1987). [English translation].
Schwartz, E. Acta Conci/iorum Oecumenicorum. (1928; vol. 1:1:4, pp. 40-48). [Greek].
Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyrorum in Leviticum tiber
Cyril of Alexandria, Homilies on Luke

Chabot, J.B. S. Cyrilli Alexandrini Commentarii in Lucam (CSCO, Scriptores Syri Series
Quarta, Tomus l; Paris, 1912). [Syriac].
Payne Smith, R. A Commentary upon the Gospel according to S. Luke, by S. Cyril
Patriarch of Alexandria now first translated into English from an Ancient Syriac
Version. (2 vols.; Oxford, 1859). [English translation].
Tonneau, R.M. S. Cyrilli Alexandrini Commentarii in Lucam. (CSCO 140, Scriptores
Syri 70; Louvain, 1953). [Latin translation].
Cyril of Alexandria, On the Adoration and Worship of God in Spirit and in Truth
Cyril of Jerusalem, Catecheses ad illuminandos
McCauley, L.P. and A.A. Stephenson~ The Works of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem. (2 vols;
Fathers of the Church 61, 64; Washington, 1969-1970; vol. 1, pp. 91-249; vol. 2,
pp. 4-140). [English translation].
Reisch!, W.K. and J. Rupp. Cyrilli Hieroso/ymorum archiepiscopi opera. (Munich, 1848,
!860 ['!967, Hildesheim]). [Greek].
Cyril of Jerusalem, Epistula ad Constantium
Bihain, E. "L'epitre de Cyrille de Jerusalem a Constance sur Ia vision de Ia Croix.
Tradition manuscrite et edition critique," Byzantion 43 (1973) 264-296.
Cyril of Jerusalem: Letters: See Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem.
Cyril Anaphora (Syriac)
Raes, A. "Anaphora Cyrilli Hierosolymitani vel Alexandrini." In: Anaphorae Syriacae
113 (Rom, 1944, pp. 323-363). [Syriac text and Latin translation].
De solstitiis et aequinoctiis
Botte, B. "De solstitiis et aequinoctiis." In: idem, Les origines de Ia Noel et de
l'Epiphanie. Etude historique. (Textes et etudes liturgiques 1; Louvain, 1932;
pp. 93-!05).
Didache: See Apostolic Fathers.
Rordorf, W. and A. Tuilier. La doctrine des douze ap6tres (Didach). Introduction,
Texte, Traduction, Notes, Appendice et Index. (SC 248; Paris, 1978). [Greek text
and-French translation].
Didasca/ia
VMbus, A. The Didascalia Aposto/orum in Syriac. (4 vols; CSCO 401, 402, 407, 408,
Scriptores Syri 175, 176, 179, 180; Louvain, 1979). [Syriac text and English
translation].
Didymus, Commentarii in Zachariam
Doutreleau, L. Didyme l'Aveugle. Sur Zacharie. Introduction, texte critique, traduction et
notes. (3 vols; SC 83-85; Paris, 1962). [Greek text and French translation].
357
-_;:
358
359
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Eusebius of Caesarea, Demonstratio Evangelica

Heikel, LA. Eusebius Werke VI. Die Demonstratio evangelica (GCS 23; Leipzig, 1913).
[Greek].
Eusebius of Caesarea, History of the Church
Schwartz, E. Eu.sebius Werke 1/, 1-3. Die Kirchengeschichte. (GCS 9:1-3; Leipzig,
1903-1909). [Greek].
McGiffert, A. C. in NPNF 2:1, pp. 73-403. {English translation].
Eusebius of Caesarea, Vita Constantini
Heikel, I.A. Eusebius Werke I. Ober das Leben Constantins. Constantins Rede an die
heilige Versammlunge. Tricennatsrede an Constantin. (GCS 7; Leipzig, 1902).
[Greek].
Richardson, E. C. in NPNF 2:1, pp. 405-559. [English translation].
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I:/. (GCS; Berlin. 1975; pp. 3-151).
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Expositio Ofjiciorum Ecc/esiae: See Pseudo-George the Arab.
Gelasian Sacramentary
Chavasse, A. Le Sacramentaire g/asien (Vaticanus Reginensis 316), sacramentaire
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Gennadius, Commentarii in s. Pauli epistulas
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Abhandlungen 15; Mii.nster i.W., 1933; pp. 352-422). [Greek].
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Gospel of Philip (NHC 11,3)
Isenberg, W.W. "The Gospel of Philip (ll,3)." In: J.M. Robinson. The Nag Hammadi
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Gregor of Nazianz, Homilies 6-12
Calvet-Sevasti, M.-A. Gregoire de Nazianze. Discours 6-12. (SC 405; Paris, 1995).
[Greek text and French translation].
PG 35:721-849. [Greek text and Latin translation].
Hesychius Lexicographer
Latte, K. Hesychii Alexandrini lexicon. (2 vols; Copenhagen, 1953, 1966).
Hesycbius of Jerusalem, Commentarius in Leviticum
PG 93:787-1180. [Latin].
Hildebert, fiber de sacra eucharistia
PL 171:1195-1212. [Latin].
Hildebert, versus de mysterio missae
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Hippolytus, On Proverbs
Richard, M. "Les fragments du commentaire de S. Hippolyte sur les Proverbes de
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Ignatius, To the Magnesians: See Apostolic Fathers.
Ignatius, To the Philadelphians: See Apostolic Fathers.
lrenaeus, Against the Heresies
Rousseau, A. and L. Doutreleau. /renee de Lyon. Contre les heresies. I-III. (SC 263, 264,
293, 294. 210, 211; Paris 1979. 1979, 1982, !982, 1974, 1974). [French
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Rousseau, A., B. Hemmerdinger, L. Doutreleau, and Ch. Mercier. !renee de Lyon. Contre
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Rousseau, A., L. Doutreleau, and Ch. Mercier. !renee de Lyon. Contre les heresies. V.
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Ishodad ofMerv, Commentary on Leviticus
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text and Latin translation].
Isidor (Pseudo-lsidor?), Quaestiones de ueteri et nouo Testamento (Levitico)
PL 83:321-340. [Latin].
Ivo of Chartres, Sermo V sive opusculum de convenientia veteris et novi sacr_ificii
PL 162, 535-562. [Latin].
Jacob of Sa rug, Homily on the Scapegoat
Bedjan, P. Homiliae Selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis. (5 vols; Leipzig and Paris, 19051910; vol. 3, pp. 259-282). [Syriac].
St. James Anaphora (Syriac)
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(Rome, 1953; pp. 107-177). [Syriac text and Latin translation].
RUcker, A. Die syrischen Jakobosanaphora nach der Rezension des Ja 'qob(h) von
Edessa. Mit dem griechischen Paralleltext herausgegeben. (Liturgiegeschichtliche
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Jerome, Against Jovinianus
PL 23:211-338. [Latin].
Freemantle, W.H. in NPNF 2:6, pp. 346-416. [English translation].
Jerome, Commentary on Galatians
PL 26:307-438. [Latin].
Jerome, Commentary on Mark: See Pseudo-Jerome.
Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah
Adriaen, M. S. Hieronymi Presbyteri Opera. Pars I. Opera Exegetica 6: Commentarii in
Prophetas Minores (CCSL 76A; Turnhout, 1970; pp. 747-900). [Latin].
Jerome, De viris inlustribus
Richardson, E. Hieronymus liber de viris inlustribus. Gennadius tiber de viris
inlustribus. (Texte und Untersuchungen 14; Leipzig, 1896). [Latin].
Jerome, Dialogus Adversus Pelagianos
Moreschini, C. S. Hiero1'T)'mi Presbyteri Opera. _Pars l/1. Opera Polemica. 2. Dialogus
Adversus Pelagianos. (CCSL 80; Turnhout, 1990). [Latin].
Freemantle, W.H. in NPNF 2:6, pp. 447---483. [English translation].
Jerome, Letters:
Hilberg, I. Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi Epistulae (CSEL 54; 55; 56:1-2; Vienna, 2 1996).
[Latin].
Freemantle, W.H. in NPNF 2:6, pp. 1-295. [English translation of selected letters].
Jerusalem Lectionary: see Old Armenian Lectionary and Old Georgian Lectionary.
Johannes Damascenus: see Pseudo-Johannes Damascenus.
Johannes Scbolasticus, Collection of Canons in 50 Titles
Jerusalem, 1997), number 61102-107, pp. 59-61. [Greek text and English
Johannes Zonaras: see Tripartite Commentary to the Conciliar Legislation.
John Chrysostom, Against the Jews
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Liber pontificalis
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Old Armenian Lectionary
Renoux, A. Le codex armenien Jerusalem 121, TOme 1: Introduction: Aux origines de 1a
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text and French translation].
Old Georgian Lectionary
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(CSCO 188-189, 204-205; Scriptores Iberi 9-10, 13-14; Louvain, 1959-1960).
[Georgian text and Latin translation].
Origen, Against Celsus
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Preuschen, E. Origenes Werke IV. Der Johanneskommentar. (GCS 10; Leipzig, 1903).
[Greek].
Origen, Exhortation to Martyrdom
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O'Meara, J.J. Prayer. Exhortation to Martyrdom. (Ancient Christian Writers 19; New
York, 1954). [English translation].
Origen, Homilies on Jeremiah
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1977). [Greek text and French translation]Klostermann, E. Origenes Werke l/1. Jeremiahomilien, Klageliederkommentar,
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[Greek].
Smith, J.C. Homilies on Jeremiah. Homily on 1 Kings 28. (The Fathers of the Church 97;
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Zenos, A.C. in NPNF 2:2, pp. 1-178. [English translation].
Sopb.ron_ius, Homily on the Exaltation of the Venerable Cross and on the Holy
Anastasis
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Sozomenos, History of the Church
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Syriac Aristides, Apology: See Aristides.
Tertullian, Ad nationes
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Quinti Septimi Florentis Tertulliani Opera. Pars I. Opera Catholica. Adversus
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Tertullian, Against Marcion
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Marcionem (CCSL I; Turnhout~1964; pp. 255-274). [Latin].
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Theodore bar Koni, Scholia
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Vita Prophetarum: See Pseudo~Epiphanius.
1.4 Pagan Literature

Aelius Herodianus, De prosodia catholica
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Aesop, Fabulae
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Agatbarchides of Cnidus
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Apollodorus of Athens, Peri Theon
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Dio Cbrysostomus, OratWnes
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Hecateus, Aegyptica
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Index of Sources
Old Testament
Genesis
4:3
6:1-4
6:15
6:16
15
17:23-27
22
22:13
37:21
37:31
37:31-33
38:30
123
86
199
199
92,237
123
129
67
96-97
126
67
170
Exodus
3
15:22-26
16
17:1-7
18
18:13
19: I
23:14
23:14-17
24
25:4
25:9LXX
25:17
25:17-22
25:40LXX
26-28
26:1
26:31
28:36ff
28:38
29
30:10
32-33
237
47
47
47
121-122
121
122
308
307
187
170
183
105
105
183
238,239
170
170
245
245
271
18, 30, 188-189
95
32-34
32:11-14
32:30
33:9
34: Iff
34:6-7
34:7
35-40
38:5-8 LXX
319
55, 123,318,319,
321
122
89
55, 122-123
123
89
95
105
~eviticus
4
4:20
5:5
8
8:9
8-9
10
14
16 (selection)
16:1
16:1-28
16:2-3
16:3
16:4
16:5
16:6
16:7-10
16:8
16:10
16:11
16:12-13
173
104
26
187
245
95
95,102,300
27, 170
18, 21,28-33, 5455, 62, 70-71, 8182, 86, 87, 93, 100,
117, 146, 171, 173,
187,262,318-321
95, 102,300
21
106
31
28, 29, 102, 239
31, 102
26,29
29
103
26, 102, 103-104,
160
26,29
30, 193
~
398
16:13
16:14
16:15
16:16
16:17
16:17 LXX
16:18-19
16:18-20
16:20
16:20-22
16:21
16:21-24
16:22
16:22-23
16:23-24a
16:24
16:24-25
16:26
16:27
16:28
16:29
16:29-31
16:29-34
16:30
16:31
16:33
16:34
17:7
18
18:5
18:30
23
23:26-32
23:27
23:27 LXX
23:27-32
23:28
23:29
23:32
23:34-43
23:39
25:9
25:9LXX
25:9-10
25:9-13
Index of Sources
106
30
30, 102, 160
30, 182-183
102, 110, 125, 181
110, 125
30
189
81, 102-103, 182183
160
26, 31, 51, 88, 89,
96, 102, 123, 175
169
88, 94, 102, 117,
177
88
31
29,31,81,102-103
32
104
32, 192
192
33, 106
34
21, 26, 160, 212
47,53
16, 33, 102
102
181
128
55, 99, 320
173
55
76
62
15, 74, 104, 106
15
18, 26, 34,54-55,
100, 160,318-321,
334
15, 104
74, 106, 151, 219
74, 106
318,319,321
39
15
15
18, 91, 102-103
90
25:10
104
Numbers
3:4
5:7
6
6:1-7
14:18
14:18-20
19
29:7
29:7-11
29:8
29:8-10
29:8-11
29:11
102
26
245
248
89
56
170, 187-188
34, 106
18, 28,31-32,5455, 32Q-321
31
22,32
23
32, 150, 160
Deuteronomy
4:24
8:3
15:2
21:1-9
21:7-8
21:23
27:26
29:28
31:16
32
32:2b
229
33,47,97
90
169
169-170
154, 164, 173, 175,
178-179
154, 173, 175
39,339,341
38
44
44
97
I Kings
6:22
8
8:65-66
!8:36ff
18:42-45
22:19
22:19-22
253
123,291,294
293-294
55
248
80
82
IChron
28:11 LXX
183
28:12 LXX
28:18 LXX
28:19 LXX
183
183
183
2Chron
5-7
6-7
7
7:8-10
7:9-10
11:15
30:15-20
291
123
123
123, 293
291
128
177
Ezra
3-5
9:6
195
53
Nehemia
I :3
8:1-10
9:33
92-93
3!8, 32Q-321
43
Job
1:6
2:1
33:24
38:15
80
80
66
285
Psahns
Joshua
4:19
Index of Sources
I
I
I
I
7:8-9
15;3
27
32:5 LXX
34:13
37:11
37:19-20
47:10 LXX
59:8bLXX
69 (68):22
82:1-2
83:5 LXX
83:11b LXX
103 (102):4
103:14
106;6
107;1Q-21
90
92-93
56
89
7Q-71
98
98
295
295
151, 164
90
295
295
93
39
43
66
110:1
110:4
119 (118):131
141 (140):1
141 (140):3
399
186
184
327-328
327-328
327-328
Proverbs
10:10
12:25-13:3
18:3
20:27
Isaiah
1:11
1:13-14 LXX
1:18
1:18-19
6
6:1
6:2
6:3
6:5-7
13:21
26:11 LXX
30;5
34:14
50:6
52:7
53
53;4
53;5
53:6
53:7
53;7-8
53:8
53:9
53:10
53:JQ-12
53:11
53:12
57:15ff
57:15-58:14
58
58:1-5
58;3-5
58:4-5
209
327-328
92-93
337
254
15,34
13Q-131, 268
268
79,80,82
80
80
80
80
128
186
92-93
128
159, 161, 165
90
116-117,177-178,
179,208
177, 179
117,177,179
117
117,177,179
117
117, 177
179
117
177
117,179
117,177,179
55,32Q-321
55,321
56, 70, 72, 75-76,
77, 155, 156,280
73
34
7Q-71
-'
400
58:5ff
58:6
61:1
61:1-3
Index of Sources
32()-321
56, 155, 156, 160
56
90
Jeremiah
7:29
11:20
13:17
30:8-11
245
338
273
318-319,321
Ezekiel
8: II
9-10
10
10:1
13:11
33:9 LXX
33: II
36:25-26
42:15 LXX
43
43:13
43:14
43:14-20
43:17
44:17-18
Daniel
7:9-10
9:5
9:25-26
80
106
80
80
80
285
89
342-343
187
183-184
199-200
199-200
199-200
105
199-200
247
Hosea
14
14:2-10
'14:2-3
14:3
14:10
Obadiah
56
Jonah
55, 56, 58, 7()-72,

75-76, 160,253,
280, 32()-321
2:7
3
93
34
Micah
7:14-20
7:18
7:18-20
7:19
318-321,322
56
56,319
267-268
Habakkuk
2:4
2:15
56, 133, 319

318-321,322
320
133
320
173
98
1-2
2:26
Zechariah
1:8
2:13-3:4
3
3:1
3:1-5
3:2
6:1-3
6:9-15
8:14-19
8:19
12:10
195
183
195
80
327-328
79, 8()-82, 92-94,
95, 101, 160, 165,
180, 194-197,225,
333
80
163
92
80
195
318-321
73,306,307,310312
159, 161, 165
Maleachi
Amos
9
9:1
9:13-15
200
199
318-321
1:11
1:12-13
1:14
2:7
Matthew
5:9
5:24
5:38-48
6
6:17
6:16-18
7:9-11
9:9
10:10
10:45
26:3
26:57
26:62-{)3
27:12
27:14
27:15-23
27:15-26
27:16
27:17
27:20
27:21
27:28
27:28-31
27:30
Mark
9
9:17-29
9:29
10:45
11:15-18
14:61
15:5
15:9
15: II
Luke
217,218
218
217,218
125
401
New Testament
Haggai
90
80, 82,229,291
43
90
Index ofSources
I
1:1-20
1:9
1:13-17
2:25
163, 167, 224

209
212
179
72,75-76,170,313
7()-71, 280
34
253
168
249
205
168
168
179
179
179
147, 165-171,206,
226,227,267,33()331
145, 165
168
168
156, 168
168
165, 170
163
163
167, 162
237
318
317,319
159
294
179
179
168
168
163,331
323-324
327-328
252
254
244
2:25-35
2:34
4:18-19
4:31-32
5:17-26
6:6
13:10
13:1()-17
15:11-32
22:19-20
23:9
23:48
23:56
255
244
56
215
318
215
215
318
343
213
179
152
215
John
163, 208
1:29
2:12-22
3:30
10:22-42
19:1
19:3
19:9
19:34
19:26
19:37
117, 138, 147, 176178,179,224-225,

226,254
294
254
294
163
163
179
163, 165
177
163, 165
Acts
1:12
5:30
6:1
8:32-33
10:39
12:4
13:14
13:29
13:42
13:44
15:13
17:2
18:4
18:18
18:21
20:6
20:7
215
179
215
213
179
215
215
179
215
215
215
215
215
215
215
215
215
402
20:16
20:28
21:24
22:1
27:9
Romans
1:18
2:4-5
2:16
3
3:21
3:21-26
3:24
3:24-25
3:24-26
3:25
3:25-26
3:26
5:6-11
8:3
8:34
9:4
10:15
14:5-{;
15:24
1Corinthians
1:17
1:18-24
4:17
5:7
15:25
15:26
16:3
16:6
16:11
Index of Sources
215
213
215
215
16, 2M-215, 227,
331
7
203
201,203
201
203, 226
203
197-198
204,224-225
225
145,224,197-205,
330
lOS, 115, 146,203,
205,206,221,225,
266,272
145,197-205,224225,331
203
203
171, 175
189-190
203,221,224
175
215-216,227
175
175
294
175
224
186
li!l;
175
175
175
8:22
9:3
12:17
175
175
175
Galatians
154
1:4
2:20
3
3-4
3:10
173-174
173-174
173-176
145, 331
147, 154, 159, 173176,221,224,226
206
164
1!7, 147, 154, 159,
171, 173-176, 178,
221,224,226,267
173-176
174
174-175
206
174
174
280
216,219
3:10-14
3:10-13
3:13
3:13-14
4:4
4:4-5
4:4-6
4:4-7
4:6
4:9-10
4:10
1:16
5:21
8:18
175
171, 173
175
1:13
1:13-14
1:14
I: 15
1:15-20
I :18
1:20
1:21
1:21-23
2:16-20
4:8
1Thessalonians
3:2
3:5
2:8
2:9
2:10
2:1!
2:19
2:23
2:25
2:28
4:16
1:12
1:12-1'4
1:12-20
1:12-23
5:7
5:8
6:19
6:19-20
6:20
7
7:3
7:14
7:16
7:17
7:25
175
175
7:26
7:27
8:1
8:1-5
8:2
2Thessalonians
175
2Timothy
1:10
186
175
175
Hebrews
Philippians
2:6-11
207
209
207,210
207
209,210
207
207,209
210
207
216-217
175
2:11
Philemon
12
Ephesians
6:22
Colossians
2Corinthians
Index of Sources
61, 63,206, 21!212,226,330

212
212
212
212
175
175
175
175
175
216,227
210
207
61,63,206,207210,225,226,330
210
1:1-4
1:3
1:10
1:13
2:14
2:14-15
2:17
2:17-18
2:18
3:1
3:1-{;
3:2
4:14
4:14-16
4:15
4:15-5:10
4:16
5:5
5:6
180-197, 206, 266

189
184, 187
183
187
191
1!6, 185, 186, 190,
193, 197
184
194
185, 189-190
194
298
184
183, 185, 193
189-190
184
187
190
184
184
8:4
8:5
8:6
8:7-9:10
9
9:2
9:2-12
9:3
9:3-4
9:4
9:7
9:9
9:9-10
9:10
9:11
9:1!-12
9:11-16
9:12
9:13
9:14
9:15-22
9:18-21
9:19
9:19-22
9:21
9:23
9:23-24
9:24
9:25
9:26
403
186-187, 191
184
185
183, 191
190
184
184
194-195
191
184
181, 185, 189-190,
193
183, 184
181, 185
183, 187
183
182-183, 184, 189,
271
187
183, 184
181, 182, 189
298,327-328
145-146, 193,266,
302,333
247
318-322
247
189
193
181,230,232
187
181
191
182-183
182
298
181
185, 187
184, 185
187-188
42
185, 187
193-194
185, 187
183, 184, 189, 193194
183
183, 185, 189-190
185
181, 185, 186
Index of Sources
404
9:28
10:1
10:10
10:11-18
10:12
10:13
10:19
10:19-20
10:19-22
10:22
10:25
10:27
10:32-39
11
11:12
11:28
12:1-12
12:2
12:22-24
12:24
12:25
12:26
12:29
13:11-13
13:11-14
13:13
13:14
181, 190, 193

183
181, 185
185
182, 187
186
185, 187
183
!90-191, 193,236
185, 187-190
181, 191
!86
181
336
183
177
181
187
182
185, 187
183, 183
183
182
159
192
181, 191-192
192
I Peter
1:2
2:4-5
2:22
2:22-24
Index of Sources
2:24
2:25
189
189
179
117, 147-148,178179, 206-207
179,224,226
179
2Peter
146
!John
205-206, 221, 227,

330
1:7
1:7-2:2
1:9
2:1
2:1-2
2:2
4:10
5:15
206
205
206
189-190
205-206,266
178, 205, 206, 273
176,178,205-206
253
Jude
90
88
5:11
5:16-18
5:17
336
248
336
1:10
1:13
II: I
217
194, 196
146
Damascus Document
1QS Rule ofthe Community

x:6
45
i:ll-17
185
IQ34bis
4Q507
37-38
4Q508
4Q508 1
4Q508 I 1-3
4Q508 2 I
4Q508 2 1-6
37-38
41,45
41
39
38-39,45,48,51,
58, 210
16, 16
37
43
43
38,45
39
43
43
43
43
245
4Ql71 Pesher on Psalms

98
ii:9-10
ii:9-ll
iii:2-3
iii:2-5
16
98
16
98-99
4Ql801l81
4Q180
4Q180 I 7-8
4Ql81
87, 98, 101, 141,

329
87
87, 98, 101, 141,
329
65, 84-85, 100,

140, 191
4Q400-407
4Q401 11 3
4Q401 22 3
4Q40515 ii-162
4Q40515ii-165
11Ql7
4Q203 7 i 6
vi:I9
War Scroll
8-10 iii 20
38
38, 44,45
41,45
42-43,45, 61, 63,
210
37
84
91
91
231-232
231-232
84
4QEnoch Giantr 87
Qumran
16
4Q161 Pesher Isaiah
1Q34 2+1 6
IQ34 2+16-7
!Q34 3 i
IQ34 3 ii
Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice
Revelation
James
4Ql56 Targum of
46,54,100
Leviticus
209
IQSb Rule of Blessings

245
iv:28
87
IQ22Words of Moses
100
xi:2-8
xi:6-8
xi:7-8
98
100
16
4Q201 iii 9
4Q202 iv II
4Q204 ii 26
86
88
86
83
4Q213a I i 10-11 341
100
iii:9-11
iii:12-iv: 11
iv:l
41, 47, 97
97
115
4Q508 2 3
4Q508 2 4-5
4Q508 3
4Q508 7
4Q508 22+23 1
4Q508 22+23 3
4Q508 30
4Q508 39
4Q508 40
4Q508 41
4Q509
4Q509 3 1-9
4Q509 3 2-9
4Q509 5-6 ii
4Q509 7
4Q509 8 I
4Q509 8 4
4Q509 12 i + 13
4Q509 16
4Q509 97+98 i
37-38,45
38
44
38,45
38,45
38,45
39
39-40,45
41,45
42-43, 45, 61,210
4QEnocha-c
Aramaic Levi
IQPesher Habakkuk
405
Festival Prayers
1Q34
1Q34 2+1 1-4
34,37-46,100,209
37-38,43
38,44
Songs of the Sage
4Q510
4Q511
16
16
5Ql3
44-45,61, 63
11 QMelchizedek
40, 41,46, 79, 86,

90-92, 94, 95, 98,
100-101, 116, 121,
141, 185-186, 196197,210,329,330
406
ii 7-8
ii 18
iii 7
91
90
92
llQTemple Scroll 46, 100

xxv-xxvii
203
xxv:l-10
209
xxv:6
xxv:I0-12
xxv:12-l6
xxvi:IO
xxvii:3-4
xxv:l4-16
20,30
34
31
29,30
32
22
Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum (see
under Pseudo-Philo)
2Maccabees
2:5
4Maccabees
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha

Apocalypse of Abraham14, 79, 81, 86,
90,92-94,196-197, 329,330
13-14
13:1-14:14
13:6--7
13:7
13:10
14:5
93
92-93
92
93
94
94
Apocalypse of Elijah
1:15-21
47-48
Ascension of Isaiah
9-10
242
2Baruch
6:7
10:19
189,253
251-252
!Enoch
85-90,92,95,100-101, 138, 185

79, 85-86
86, 138-139
7, 40, 79, 85-90,
94, 116, 141, 185186,210,329,330
20,3!,88
87
19,31,88
87
88
88
88
87
1-36
6-11
10
10:4
10:4a
10:4--8
10:4--10
10:6
10:7-8
10:8
10:8b
10:9-10
10:10--16
10:11-17
10:13
10:13-14
10:17
10:18-11:2
10:20
12-16
13: I
14
407
Index of Sources
Index of Sources
14:8-25
14:9
14:10
14:14
14:14--23
14:19
14:21
14:24
15:2-16:4
88
186
89
185
92
89
89
89, 115
90
89
79,82-83,89,100,
136, 183,231,329
82
82
82
82
82
229
82,231
82
82
2Enoch
84
22
84, 136
6:28-29
17
17:20--22
17:22
330
189
14, 101-102, 105,
115-116,118, 198199
7,221
115, 200--20 I
115,200
Psalms of Solomon
3:8
34
49:14--16
50:5
50:5-10
50:5-21
50:12-14
50:15
50:16
50:17
50:17-21
50:18-19
50:19
50:20
50:21
50:22
50:24--28
336
190
181
32-33, 60, 136
32
32
32, 136
32, 136
60
33
25,36
32, 136
32, 136
209
181
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
Testament of Dan
Pseudo-Philo (Latin), Liber

Antiquitatum Biblicarum
13:5--Q
13:6
36
16,209,210
Pseudo-Philo (Armenian),
On Jonah
51-59, 118, 132,
330
36,58
1:11
58
1:23
57
1:30
57
1:35
57,58
1:37
35,57
1:38
36,57
1:41
57
1:48
5:10--11
Testament of Levi
2:3 (Ms Mt. Athos)
2:5-5:7
2:6--7
2:10
3
3:4--Q
5
5:1
5:5
8
8:1-18
8:2-10
18
185
19, 83-84, 100, 183
341
83
83
83
136
83
136
183
137
83, 136
83
196
185
Testament of Simon
6:6
185
Testament of Zebulon
Jubilees
16, 51, 79, 90, 9597,99
5:17-18
34
95, 96, 100

34, 95-96, 100,
129, !60
96
96, 129
202-203
34,96
96, 129
95,96,129
177
34:10
34:12
34:12-19
34:13
34:13a
34:18
49:3
Sibylline Oracles 118
1:360--75
8:285-309
164
164
9:8
Testament of Solomon
21:2
Sirach
32-33
4:14
24:15
45:10
61
106
170
185
105, 199
Vitae Prophetarum (see Pseudo-
Epiphanius)
I
408
Philo and Josephus

Philo
7,46-48,107-114,
125,132,221,237239,242-243
De cherubim
25
199
De congressu eruditionis gratia
89
15,107,206
107
15, 114, 206
107-108
107
25
199
De decalogo
159
16, 107
De ebrietate
86
107
113
87
135-136
107, 110, 112
136
109, 110
De jUga et inventione
100
199
101
199
De gigantibus
52
107, 110
De plantatione
61
15, 19, 31, 88, 107,

112, 113, 114
De posteritate Caini
48
15, 107,206
70--72
48, 51, 107, 112,
113, 114
De somniis
1:213-219
96
1:214
28
1:215
109
1:215-216
107
1:220
96
2:188-189
110--111
2:189
107, 110
2:223-233
Ill
2:230--231
110
2:231
107, 110
2:232
112
2:233
Ill
De specialibus legibus
I :66--78
107
1:72
1:79-161
1:84
1:162-167
1:162-256
1:168
1:168-193
1:186
1:186--188
1:188
1:190
1:194-256
1:230
1:257-298
1:268
2:39-222
2:41
2:42-55
2:56--70
2:140--144
2:145-149
2:150--161
2:162-175
2:176--187
2:188-192
2:193
2:193-194
2:193-195
2:193-203
2:194
2:195
2:196
2:196--199
2:197
2:198-199
2:200
2:200--202
2:203
2:204-213
De vita Mosis
2:20-23
2:23
2:23-24
2:24
2:26
2:95
409
Index of Sources
Index of Sources
30, 107, 110, 112,

113
107
107, 112
107
107
16, 107
107
16, 34, 46, 108,325
107
22, 32, 94, 112, 114
32, 150, 160
107
109
107
188
108
16, 107
108
108
108
108
108
108
108
I 08, 209, 209
16
16
108
107, 108
16
113
46,49
48
16
41,46
16
108
46, 48, 102-103
108
214
16
107
46, 48, 114
206
199
2:95--135
2:97
2:109-110
Legatio ad Gaium
306
109, 238-239
199
196
16, 20, 30, 112,
113, 206, 232
107, 112
306--307
Legum a/legoriae
112
2:50--56
98, 107, 112, 113
2:52
107, 112
2:56
47, 107, 114
3:174
Quis rerum divinarum heres sit
82-84
84
112
166
179
179-187
187
107
110, 111
107
199
15,107,206
98, 112, 113
107
Josephus
Antiquitates judaicae
2:312
3:240--243
4:79
5:166
11:134
16:182
17:165-166
18:94
Bellum judaicum
1:152
4:153
4:164
4:165
5:236
Contra Apionem
1:209
2:282
177
22,31
188
16
16
200
16, 22,29
16,22
247
117
117
117
22
71-72
22,214
Rabbinic and Medieval Jewish Literature

Mishnah
mAbot
5:5
mBetzah
5:2
mMak
3:2
22
34
120
mSebu
36
120
mMeg
2:5
3:3
3:7
mMenah
3:3
9:8
11:7
mParah
3:1
mPesah
7:7
mRH
1:2
4:5-6
mSabb
9:3
9:4
mSanh
7:4
26
72
26,55
1:3-7
1:6
1:7
mSotah
7:7
mSeqal
127
127
26, 127
8:5
251-252
20-21
mSukkah
245
26
32, 150, 160
28, 188
20-21
245
36
49
130, 131
24
mTa'an
1
1:6
2:1
2:2-5
4
4:1
4:7
4:8
mTamid
7:2
34
249
34, 56, 72, 343
49
311
49,49
249,249
35-36, 57, 69, 72,
74,281
136
T
.
410
7:3
mYoma
I
1:3
1:4-7
1:5
1:6
l :6--7
1-7
2
3
3:3
3:4
3:4-5
3:6
3:7
3:8
3:9
4
4:1
4:2
4:3
4:4
5
5:1
5:2
5:2-4
5:3
5:3-6
5:4
5:5
5:5-6
6
6:1
6:2
6:3
6:4
6:6
6:7
7
7:1
7:1-3
7:2
7:3
7:3-4
7:4
Index of Sources
32, 136,
19-28,32,171
21
125
22
23, 125
20, 23, 125
29
21
21
21
29
24
29
24,29,29
28
24,26,29,51,339
29
21
23,29
19, 24, 26, 29, 51,
130, 159
20,30
30
21
20, 21, 24, 30, 30
21
127
30
24
21, 30
24
30
19, 21, 160
29, 159
31, !37
31
19, 31, 88, 89, !59
19, 29, 31, !30,
159, 160
31
21
26,33,55,60-61
24,25
31,36
22,23,32
32
24, 31, 32, 33, 69,
126
8
8: I
8:8
8:8-9
8:9
mZebah
8:12
Index of Sources
21,312
34, 74,249
133
257
217
yMQ
1:7, 80d
yPe'ah
7:4, 20b
8:9, 2Ib
yRH
I, 56b
1:3, 57 a
245
Tosefta
tBer
3:6
3:12
tMeg
3:7
3:21-23
IRH
1:13
ISabb
6:1
7:11
tSotah
13:8
14:9
tYoma
1:6
I :7
I :8
1:12
2:10
3:18
3:19
4:2
4:6--8
4:9
4:14
4:14-15
16
16
123-124
210
ySanh
72
10:8, 29c
yTa'an
4:1, 67c
4:5, 20b
yTer
8:5, 45c
210
yYoma
1:1, 38a--c
52
49
26,55
1:1, 38c
1:3, 39a
131
131
1:4, 39a
125
131
1:5, 39a-b
3:7, 40d
1:5, 39a
5:3, 42c
5:4, 42c
125
125
30, 125
125
284
24,25,33
23
34
134
133
26,52
52
6:1,43bc
6:3, 43c
6:5, 43d
7:1, 44a
7:3, 44b
7:5, 44b
7:5, 44b-c
8:6, 45b
8:6, 45b-c
8:9, 45c
214
49, 132
3ll
16
123
125
125
125
125, 126
30
123
125
126
!59
126,283
131
25
123, 125, 319
129
126
!33
!34
52, 123,319,338,
339
Babylonian Talmud
Palestinian (Jerusalem) Talmud

yAZ
2:3, 4la
yBer
4:1, 7b
4:1, 7c
yMeg
3:2, 74a
3:7, 74b
4:5, 75b
123
bBB
l2la
bBer
5b
17a
bGit
68b-70b
bHag
16
16
16, 49, 132
214
26,55
62
13a-l4a
42
13b
bMeg
29a
Jla
Jib
bMenah
lOOa
106b
l09b
bMQ
9a
bNed
39b
bPesah
4a
54a
77a
bRH
lOb-lib
16a
l6b
l8b
2la
Jib
32b
35a
bSabb
53a
bSotah
49b
bTa'an
l6b-17a
24b
26b
27b
30b
bTem
29a
bYebam
60b
bYoma
!34
53
!31
231
2a--6a
Sb
l4b
!Sa
l9b
20a
23a
411
229
71
26, 55, 57
133
32
133
125
123
!32
75
132
245
123-124
121
36,210
311
88
284
121
53
131
131
49
248
49
133
42, 122, 122
16
245
33
123
125
20,20
125
34, 35, 126, 132
121,206
125
36b
39a-b
39b
40b
42a
53a
53b
54a
61a
67a
67b
68a
70b
74b
85b
86a
8tia-b
87b
88a
26,62,123,339
126
125,283
284
130
30
64,248
126
127
131
128
131
32
35, 41, 47, 97
17, 133
129, 134
56, 133,319
34, 39, 42, 43, 51,
52,53
49
bZebah
88b
245
Sofrim
34
121
49
Avot of Rabbi Nathan (A)
25
121
Tannaitic Midrashim
Mekilta de-Rabbi Yishmae/
(ed. Horovitz)
p. 180
p. 196
122
42, 121-122
Sifra
Ahare Mot 2:1

Ahare Mot 2:2
Ahare Mot 2:8
Ahare Mot3
Ahare Mot 4:4
Ahare Mot 4:5
Amoraic and Later Midrashim
Shu/khan 'Arukh
Genesis Rabbah
Yalqut Shim 'ani
22:3
35:3
84:31
26
32
128
30
26
127
123-124
123
130
Exodus Rabbah
15:12
3:3
20:2
20:12
21: I
21:10
21: II
21:12
1:44
34
67,128
25
128
177
339
129
130, 139
56
123,319
110, 125
110, 125
I 51:2
I 51:7
III 33:12
VII 31:34
IX31:33
138-139
139
139
139
139
139
131
Canticles Rabbah
On Cant 4:4 (sign9) 133
811
814-816
135
135
Shi 'ur Qomah
384
135
Ma 'aseh Merkavah
547
548
548-549
555
138
52, 137, 137
137
135
Targumim
Pesiqta Rav Kahana

Targum Onkelos
Genesis 49:11
Lev 16:22
Lev 16:30
170
Num 31:17-18
65-67
Gen 37:31
Lev 9:3
Lev 16
Lev 16:10
Lev 16:2Ib-22
86
126, 130
67, 12&-130
51,88
128
128
Samaritan Pentateuch
Exod 26:35
Exod 26:36
Exod 30:1-10
Jewish Liturgy
'Aromem le 'El
'AI Het
128
66
122
88
51
245
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan
Piyyutim and Prayers (according to their title)
Medieval Literature
On bfiabb Sib
On Exod 18:3
411
424
135
242
135
135, 136
251-252
53
24:1-12
54
55-56
24:11
54
24:17-19
56
25
56
25:2
129-130
26:3
130
26:11
Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer51
10
55-56,58
22
128
123
28
124
30
124
31
34, 35, 121, 122,
46
125, 128, 132
Rashi
On bNid61a
390
Hekhalot Zutrati
138
11:10
Psalms Rabbah
242
138
135
135
135
135
136
Metatron
Hekhalot Literature 134-139

3Enoch
128
413
Seder Rabba deBere'shit
4-5 (Synopsis 5-8)

138
5 (Synopsis 7-8) 13&-139
36 (Synopsis 54) 135
39 (Synopsis 57) 135, 135
RavSheshna
108
181
184-185
192
299
313-314
Seder Eliyahu Zuta
DeuteronomY Rabbah
On Ps 86:8
Hekha/ot Rabbati
The Story of the Ten Martyrs
Leviticus Rabbah
Pesiqta Rabbati
26:6
35
Smaller Tractates
18:7
19:4
19:6
Index of Sources
Index of Sources
412
'Ana 'E/oheinu Ya'a/eh veYavo
60,286
50
50
189
189
189
~
414
Index ofSources
'Asapper Gedolot
ed. Mirsky, line 197
'Ashanen
'Attah Baharta beYisrael
'Attah Bahartanu
'Attah Barata
'Attah Konanta 'Olam beRov Hesed
ed. Mirsky, line 71
'Attah Yodea' Ma'amaqei Lev
'Attah Yodea 'Omqo she! Lev
'Attah Yodea' Razey '0/am

'Atsaltsel
'Ava/ ['Anahnu] Hatanu
'Az be 'Ein Kol
ed. Yahalom,lines 214-215
ed. Yahalom, line 553
ed. Yahalom, lines 762-763
'Azkir Gevurot 'E/oah
ed. Mirsky, lines 1-4
'Azkir Sela
'Ein Lanu Kohen Gadol
ed. Mirsky, line 3
ed. Mirsky, line 11
ed. Mirsky, line 14
ed.Mirsky,line32
'Eleh 'Ezkerah
'Elohai 'ad shelo Notsarti

'Eloheinu ve 'Elohei 'Avoteinu Gal/eh
'E/oheinu ve'Elohei 'Avoteinu Mehol
Ha'Omrim leKhilay Shoa'
HaLo Kol haNistarot vehaNiglot
'Attah Yodea'
Ki 'Avonoteinu Rabu miLemanot
Mah 'Anu uMah Hayyenu
Mah Ne'emar Lefaneikha
Yoshev baMarom
Malkhuyot
MiMa 'amaqei Lev
Ribon Ha '0/amim
Riboni Hatati uMura' 'Asiti
Shiv'at Yamim
49,60,286
32
63
50
42,50
45
49,60,63,97,287
287
53
53
39, 50, 51, 52, 53, 137-138, 139,336-342
63
43, 50, 53
60,286
285
129
286
49,60,287
287
'287
15
97
63
34,286
286
286
287
287
138-139
53
50
50
285
Index ofSources
Shofarot
uvekhen Ten Pahdekha
ve'Attah Hivdalta
veHasi'enu
VeHen 'Anu 'Attah keTo 'im
ve'Ein Levakesh
veTitten Lanu
Zekhor Lanu
Zikhronot
415
49,209
50,339
43
50
40
50
42
42, 49,209
(Ashkenazy) Mahzor for the Days ofAwe (ed. Goldschmidt)
2:568-574
2:574-576
139
42
Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on (ed. Goldschmidt)
p.
p.
p.
p.
p.
49
39,340
39,56
56
63
60, 127
161
166
168
168:5-8
168:7-8
Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (ed. Davidson, Yoel and Asaf)
50
52, 137-138
52
42, 50, 340
50
53
34,43,53,343
p.258
p.259
pp.259-260
pp.259-264
p. 261
p.262
Christian and Gnostic Literature

39
53
34
50
49,209
53
53
52
60, 62-64
Alexander the Monk
Ambrose
On the Finding ofthe Venerable and

Life-giving Cross
292
Commentary on Luke
1:22
250
Letters
3:13-14
Alexios Aristenos 276

Amalar
269, 334
267
Anaphoras
Cyril (Syriac)
St. James (Syriac)
337-342
337-342
""'1'~-
416
St. James (Greek)
Index of Sources
272
Andreas of Crete
In exaltationem
S. Crucis orationes
2-3
2-16
5-6
5:14
7
292
Anonymous from Jerusalem
Commentary on Luke
250,326
Apostolic
Constitutions
275,276
2:55:1
5:7:12
6:12:13
7
7:5:5
7:23:4
7:30:1
8
8:9:8-9
8:12:1-15:11
8:12:6-26
8:12:9-20
8:47:1-85
336
336
336
335
336
222
217
335
342-343
335
335
335
275
Augustine
Locutionum
in Heptateuchuin
CCSL 33:428
Quaestionum
in Heptateuchum
CCSL 33:211-214
CCSL 33:213
220,282,
331
7:3
7:3-5
7:4
7:4-5
7:5
7:6
7:6-11
7:7
7:8
7:8-9
7:9
320
7:10
263
263,267
263
263
266,267
149
149
149
163, 163
129, 146,
148-155,
150, 157158, 160,
206,221,
223,225,
Aristides, Apology (Syriac)
14:4
Index ofSources
7:11
7-8
267-268,
330-331
16, 151, 152,
159, 164,
219
150-152
ISO, 151152, 159,
160
32
152, 160,
164,219
19, 29, 153,
!59
152-155
153, 159
19, 29, 31,
89, 153, 159,
160, 163,
164, 164
19
153, 159,
160, 163,
194, 196
19, 29, 153,
!59
19, 29, 160,
164
149, 188
Basil
Homilies on Fasting
Barnabas
1-6
61-62, 146,
148-150,
157, 162,
164-165,
223-224,
227,281
149
1-2
1:1
1:2
1:3
76,279
16
280
15
Canons of the
Apostles
70
Comes of Wiirzburg
275, 331
275-277
417
304,317321
Cosmas Indicopleustes
Chronikon Paschale
334
296
291
Christian Topography
5:9
5:37
250
250
Chrysostom (See John Chrysostom)

Cowtcil of Laodicea
Canon37
Canon 38
Clement of Rome
}Clement
1-12
36
40:1-5
55:1
61:3
64
336
194
218
172
194
194
Clement of Alexandria 229,
276
276
Cyprian of Carthage
Letters
63:14:4
270-271
Cyprian the Gaul
Heptateuchos
264
237-243
Excerpts from Theodotus 229,241
Cyril of Alexandria
27
Commentary on Isaiah
27:5
34
37
37-39
38
59:2
59:2-3
64
Stromateis
5
5:6
5:6:32-40
5:6:39:3-40:4
5:6:39:4
5:6:40:1
5:6:40:3
5:6:40:4
Comes ofAlcuin
30, 229, 236,

238,24()243
242
230,231
231,234
231
229-231,
234,236,
231
230
241
241
239
238
237-239
239
239
239
239
304,317321
1:14
69
Contra Iulianum
267
Epistula ad Acacium
267
On the Adoration and Worship of God
in Spirit and in Truth 263
1105-8
263
281
1105BC
Glaphyrorum in Leviticum
liber
263
580A-589B
267,267
588A
20,29,267268
Homilies on Luke
53
267,267
Cyril of Jerusalem
Catecheses
4:10
10:19
13:4
299
299
299
418
Index of Sources
Epistulti ad Constantium
Homilies on the Nativity
299
De solstitiis et
aequinoctiis ( ed. Botte)
55, 250, 304,

308,325326
pp.96-98
p. 95:63--{;5
p. 95:81-85
pp. 95:84-96:105
Didache
4:14
14:1-3
253-254,
325-326
308
308
307
218
218
217
Didascalia
21
of the Cross
Epiphanius
73
Diognet
246-250,
256
48-49
Gospel of Peter
146, 161165
3:6-9
3:7
3:8
3:9
5:15-16
5:16
163
163
163, 164
163
163-164
151, 159,
164
152
217
217
245
Panarion
29:4
78:13-14
78:14
245,246
246
248
7:25-27
9:35
12:50
Eusebius of Caesarea
246, 249,
256, 291,
299
Gregory of Nazianz
219-220,
284,331
1:3:2
15, 16, 69
History of the Church
2:23:4-7
2:23:5--{;
3:31:3
5:24:3
5:24:17ff
246
248
245,256
245,256
222
Vita Constantini
Egeria, Diary
236
235
235
235,236
235
292
De xii gemmis
2:1
84:25-30
85:1-5
85:1-21
85:5-10
86:1-5
293-294,
298
291-292
Ephrem
3:28
4:40-46
271
291
305
Letter 14
313
253
325,250
Gospel of Philip
228,232237
Commentary on the Diatessaron
1:29
250,325
69:14-70:9
70:1-5
70:5-10
70:15-25
71:1-15
76:5-10
84:20-85:21
233
235
235
236
236
236
234-235
Homilies on Fasting
1:12
2
2:1
10
16, 73
73
76,280
73
9:1
217
To the Philadelphians
19.4
9:1
Irenaeus
apud Eusebius, History of the Church

5:24:11ff
222
Against the Heresies
1:7:1
1:13:3-4
121~
3:10:1
3:!1:8
233
233
n3
252
252
Ishodad of Merv
267-268
69
10:4
271
Hegesippus
246-250,
256
Quaestiones de ueteri et nouo
Hypomnemata
246
Quaestiones in Leviticum
Heracleon
239
Commentary on John
233-234
Isidore of Sevilla (Pseudo?)

Testamento
264
15
266
Ivo of Chartres
269-270,
334
Hesychius of Jerusalem
16
23
23:27-32
267
76
281
Hildebert
334
Commentary on Exodus
12:2
12:2-3
To the Magnesians
16
23:23-26
Homily
Commentary on Leviticus 263, 266
Gelasius
Ignatius
Commentary on Leviticus 264
Demonstratio Evangelica
Commentarii in Zachariam
3:1-4:1
250
250
250
250
325
Homilies on the Exaltation
222
Didymus the Blind
3:32
5:14
26:12
27:3
27:13
27:18
419
Index of Sources
Liber de sacra eucharistia269
Jacob ofSarug (ed. Bedjan)

Homily on the Scapegoat
vol. 3:259-282
267
vol. 3:259
vol. 3:263
69
69
vol. 3:264-266
vol. 3:267
267
69
vol. 3:275
69
Versus de mysterio missae 269

Jerome
Hippolytus
On Proverbs
Against Jovinianus
158-159
1:15
75
Commentary on Galatians
75
420
Index ofSources
2:8-9
4:10
75
306
Commentary on Zechariah
8:18-19
De viris inlustribus
45
306,311
256
Johannes Damascenus
Sermo in annuntiationem beatae Mariae
uirginis
255
Johannes Scholasticus
276
Dialogus Adversus Pe/agianos
1:35:78-91
267
Johannes Zonaras
271
296
76,306
296
75
Justin Martyr
276
Letters
46:5
46:13
52;10
108:9
112:10
John Chrysostom
Against the Jews
l (PG 48:854B)
l :1
1:1;4-5
1:2
1:4
l :4; PG 48:8460
l :4; PG 48:849C
1:4:7
1:5
1:8
2 (page l23a)
4:7:6
6:5:9
6:7:1-7
6:7;2
7:1 (PG 48:915)
8:4
Christmas Homily
357BC
280
276, 301
16
69
274-275
72
72
74
74
275
76
76
69
279
279
278
279
295
275
250
69,250
Twelfth Homily on First Corinthians

l3l
John of Jerusalem
Panegyricus de sane/a ecc/esia domini
23
71
51
299,300
300
300
300
155-156
87:1
87:2
313
312,317,
319
313
313
313
314
314
314,315
313
74-75, 306,
312,315
314
313
306
313
306, 316
306,316
76,279,313,
316
306
306,313,
313
313
313
87:3
88:1
88:1-2
88:2
88:2-4
88:3
88:5
89:1
First Apology
61
222
Dialogue with Trypho
15
39
40:4-5
41
42
46:2
111; l
116-117
155, 156
!55
16, 19, 29,
31, 76, 154,
155-156,
159, 160,
279
!55
155
155
!55
160
89:2
89:3
89:4
89:6
90:1
92:1
92:2
Sermons
12:4
13:2
15: l
15;2
17:1
18:2
19:2
20:1
20:2
20:3
78:1
78;2
78:4
79:1-2
81:1
81:4
86:1-2
311,312317,319,
320
312-317
313,314
313,314
313,314
306, 313
306
314
314
306
3!3, 314
313,314
306
314
314
306
306
314
313
1253
1257
294
324
Origen
125
Against Celsus
172
266
234
10:33
Commentary on Romans 198
Exhortation to Martyrdom 266
268
30:16
1:31
Commentary on John
Homily on Jeremiah
14:3
194
On Prayer
16,273
266, 301,
332
335
159
266
159
266
266
266
269,268
266
268
268
273,278
167,266
76,279
266
Maximus Confessor
324
Pater ius
264
Philaster
311
92:4
93:3
94:1-2
94:4
Liber Pontificalis
Leo the Great
421
Index of Sources
304,306307
Martyrdom of Po/ycarp
Middle Armenian Lectionary
295
12:13
Homily on Leviticus
9:1:1
9:3:2
9:3:3
9:4:1
9:4:3
9:5:2
9:5:8
9:5:9
9:6:1
9:8:5
9:9:4
10:2:1
10:2:2
10:2:4
Diversarum Hereseon Liber
149
304,306
Photius
276
Pilgrim of Bordeaux
299
Old Armenian Lectionary 3, 292, 294-
295,327328
Old Georgian Lectionary 3, 292, 294,
324,327328
1225
1240
1247-1250
327
298
298
Polycarp: To the Philippians

194
12:2
422
Index of Sources
Polycrates
apud Eusebius
apud Jerome
Pseudo-Epiphanius
245,256
256
De prophetarum
vita et obitu
Commentary on Luke
Ad nationes
1:13:4
Against the Jews
14:9
14:9-10
On Baptism
17:1
On Fasting
2:13-14
14:2-3
16
16:6
18
255
326
Protevange/ium ofJames
250-255,
323
5:1
8
8-9
8:2
9:3
10
10:2
12:3
24
245
251
251
251
251
251
251
251
256
Pseudo-George the Arab
326-327
Pseudo(?)-Isisore of Sevilla
(see Isidore of Sevilla)
Pseudo-Jerome
167
Commentary on Mark
15:11
267
Letters
Pseudo-Athanasius
Scholia
267
15
Testimonia e scriptura
255
291
Sophronius
Pseudo-Chrysostom 158
In laudem conceptionis
sancti Joannis Baptistae250
Homily on the Exaltation ofthe

Venerable Cross and on the Holy
292
Anastasis
Theodosius, the Pilgrim 291, 323
Traditio Apostolica 222

Typicon of Constantinople
292,298
Valentinian Exposition (NHC xi,2)
25:30-39
228, 234,
236
313
313
313
873
876
895
Victorinus
Commentary on the Apocalypse

4:4
252
Pagan Literature
Sozomenos
Pseudo-Cyprian
Exhortation to Penitence 320

2:26
De prosodia catholica
Correspondence with
Step'anos Siwnec'i
300
Tertullian
152, 156158, 159
Against Marcion
3:5-24
3:7:7-8
281
156
19,29,31,
72, 154,
156-158,
159, 160
Pseudo-Ephrem (Syriac)
199
Dio Chrysostomus
Fabulae
103
Diodorus Siculus
Agatharchides of Cnidus
199
Orationes
Aesop
326
Pseudo-Ephrem (Armenian)
68
Augustus
Aelius Herodianus
291-292,
295
Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem
JuliU$ of Rome
276
Sacramentarium Veronense
304,305,
313
265
Commentary on Isaiah
15
1:14
Eranistes
261
Quaestiones in Octateuchum
267
in Leviticum 22
36, 73-74,
in Leviticum 32
280

1~3
270
281
222
304,307
75
36, 71-72
222
Theodoret of Cyr
Socrates
On Sabbaths and
Circumcision
Theodoros Balsamon
72
281
19,29,31
72, 156-158
Theodore bar Koni
Severus of Gabala
Pseudo-Anastasius 158
423
Index ofSources
109
71-72
Harpocration the Grammarian
103
Alexander ofLycopolis
Contra Manichaei Opiniones Disputatio

172
Hecateus of Abdera
Aegyptica
68
109
Hesychius, the Lexicographer
103
Apollodorus of Athens
Peri Theon
l.
103
424
Index of Sources
!socrates
Plutarch
Philippus (oralio 5)
103
Quaestiones Convivales
266
Suetonius
36,
68-69
Julian
Against the Galileans
Index of Modern Authors
Divus Augustus
Juvenal
Saturae
69-70,
74
76:2
100:4
68
75
Tacitus
Historia
Petronius
5:5:4
Satyricon
71
75
Terence
Plato
183
Nomoi
103
Allenbach, J.
Phormia
75
Xenophon
209
Hellenica
Islamic Literature
Al BirWii
Qur'an
Sachau)
p. 286 [291 1
p. 326 [329]
Sura 3:37
pp.326f[329~
325
325
325
251-252
Archaeological Sources
Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum
I:725
39, 47-48, 58
Mosaic in Sepphoris
Frescoes of Dura Europos Synagogue

118
Papyrus Fayum
(ed. Grenfell/Hunt)
Synagogue
337
Inscriptions of Cos
(ed. Paton!Hicks)
8I
347
199
199
Allison, D
Alan, G.
Alpigiano, C.
Altaner, B.
Amar,J.
Anderson, H.
Asaf, S.
Ascbim, A.
Assmann, A.
Assmann, J.
Attridge, H.
324,325
The Chronology ofAncient Nations (ed.
Abel, F.-M.
Abrahams, I.
Abusch, R.
Achtemeier, P.
Adna,J.
Aland, B.
Albeck, H.
Aletti, J.-N.
129
199
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus
(ed. Cowley) 6
AufderMaur
Aune,D.
Avemarie, F.
Aziza, C.
Baczk:o, B.
Baehrens, W.
Baer, Y.
Bailey, D.
Baillet, M.
Bammel,C.
Barkley, G.
Barrett, C.
Barth, M.
Bauernfeind, 0.
Baumgarten, J.
256,294,323
50,52
139
179
1I6
233-234
20
207, 209
266
!66, 167, I68, 170
29, 150, I 59
220
264
253
115
34, 42, 50, 52, 53,
137, 339, 343.
90
7,264
7
I8I, I82, 183, 184,
185, 186, I87, !88,
189, 191, 194, 242,
253
303,306,309
146, 196
19, 126, 133
71
7
262
28, 55, 107, 120,
I25
I05, I I6, 198,200,
203
37-43
233-234
262,273,278
176-177,182,214
207,2I6
117
35, 97, 99, 171
Baumstark, A.
Beck, E.
Becker, H.-J.
Bedjan, P.
Belayche, N.
Bell, C.
Bell, R.
Berendts, A.
Berger, K.
Betz, H.-D.
Beyse, K.-M.
Bezalel, N.
Bigg,C.
Bihain, E.
Billerbeck, P.
Black, M.
Blaise, A.
Blanc, C.
Blanke, H.
Blenkinsopp, J.
Blocher, H.
Bockmuehl, M.
Bolle, R.
Bolotov
Bomert, R.
Barret, M.
Batte, B.
Bousset, W.
Bovon, F.
Boyarin, D.
Brandle, R.
Braun, R.
Bremmer, J.
Breytenbacb, C.
Bronznick
Brown, P.
Brown,R
Brox, N.
Bruce, F.
294,297, 324
73
19
69,267
48
1-2,6
132
244
146
173-174
170
30,241
178
299
13
82,87,88,174,294
75
234
207,216
80
81
21 I
313
324
269-270, 272
262
308,325
335-339
56
I
74,274,301
157
I7I, I72
176
285
314
146, 149, 161, 162,
163, 164, 166, 177,
205,206
178
214
426
Bruckner, R.
Buchanan, G.
Btlchler, A.
211
212-213
120, 132
BUchsel, F.
104, 105
Buckley, J.
232-233
Bugnini, A.
291
Bultmann, R.
7, 148, 204,205
Burney, C.
177
Buth, R.
54
Cadbury, H.
2!4
Cahill, M.
167
Calvet-Sebasti, M.-A. 271
Carleton Paget, J. 148, 150, !51, 157,
!58, 164, 196
Casey, R.
229, 230, 240, 241
Chabot, J.
267
Charles, R.
85
Charlesworth, J.
211
Chavasse, A.
75, 303, 304, 305,
309,310,312,313,
317
Chazon, E.
85
Coakley, J.
252,325
Cody, A.
182
Collins, J.
80,86
Colson, F.
46, 47, 109, 110,
Ill, 112, 113
Connolly, R.
326, 327
Conway, A.J.
75,304,315,316
Conybeare, F.
326
Conzelmann, H.
214
Cothenet. E.
251
Cowley, A.
44,62
Cremer, F.G.
222
Crossan, J.
146, !50, 157, 161165, 167
Cullmann, 0.
251
Culpepper, R.
244
Daly, R.
265, 269
Danby, H.
36
Daniel, S.
102, 108
DanicHou, J.
303,305,312
Darnell, D.R.
342-343
Davidson, Y.
34, 42, 50, 52, 53,
137,339,343
Davies, W.
166, 167, 168, 170
Davila, J.
91
Davis, R.
307
Davison, J.
237
De Coninck, A.
126,232-233,235,
237
de Halleux, A.
252,325
de Jonge, M.
83
de Lange, N.
262-263
de Strycker, E.
251
Deiana, G.
18, 107, 108
Deissmann, A.
48
Dekkers, E.
264
Denker, J.
161
Der Nersessian, S. 291
Derenbourg, J.
62
Dershowitz, N.
300
Desan, P.
9
Devreesse, R.
265
Dibelius, M.
161
Dibelius, 0.
240
Dimant, D.
85, 87-88, 90
Dindorf, L.
291
Dindorf, W.
103
Dodd, C.
176
Dolle, R.
304,315
Doutreleau, L.
73
Dragnet
265
Drake, H.
299
Drijvers, J.
299
du Cange, C.
272
Duchesne, L.
307
Dunn, J.
173, 174, 176,203,
214
Durand, G.
7
Duval, Y .-M.
57,58
Eckey, W.
214-215
Eisler, R.
256
Eizenhofer, L.
304,313
Elbogen, L
24, 26, 35, 49, 52,
54, 55, 56, 60, 62,
63, 120
Elior, R.
!34, 135
Elliott, J.
179
Engberding, H.
308,324
Epstein, Y.
20
Ettlinger, G.
267,267
Falk, D.
37-45, 97
Fee, G.
211
Fernandez Marcos, N. 74, 263, 267, 280
Festugiere, A.-J.
291, 295
Fiensy, D.
335,336,342-343
Fine, S.
71-72, 261,269
Fischer, L.
303,305,312,312
Fitzmyer, J.
Fleischer, E.
Foerster, W.
Francis, E.
Franz, A.
Fraser, M.
Freeland, J.P.
Freemantle, W.
Frey, J.
Frey, J.-M.
Friedlander
Frolow, A.
Fuller, R.
Fung, R.
Gaar, A.
Gager, J.
204,214
42, 44, 49, 50, 54,
55,56
233-234
269-270
269
294,296,302
75,304,315,316
271
176-177
48
58
291
162
174
264
I, 48, 277
Garcia-Martinez, F. 90,91
292,324,327,328
46
Geerard, M.
262
Geiger, A.
85,88
Gerlo, A.
71,307
Geyer, P.
291, 323
Gianotto, C.
233-234
Gingras, G.
291-292
Ginzberg, L
124
165
Girard, R.
Glorie, F.
262
Godu, G.
304,317
Goitein, S.
34,64
Goldschmidt, D.
39, 40, 49, 50, 52,
56, 60, 63, 127,
139, 340
Goldschmidt, L.
19
Goldstein, N.
120, 131
Goldstein Cohen, N.56
Goodenough, E.
110, 335,341
Goppelt, L.
179
Gordon, R.P.
218
Grabbe, L.
85, 87, 88, 90, 91,
161
Gradwohl, R.
170
Gramaglia, V.
!57
Grasser, E.
185, 186, 187
Green, J.
149, 162
Greenberg, M.
80
Grillet, B.
291,295
Grintz, Y.
43, 61, 63, 97
Griveau, R.
325
Garitte, G.
Gartner, Y.
427
263,267
16,97
214
166
5
291,300
246
Hamerton-Ke11y, R.174
Hanhart, R.
80, 81
Hanson, P.
7, 85-89
214
Hanson, R.P.C.
Hanssens, J.
269
Harkins, P.
274, 275, 279, 279
103, !04
Harle, P.
Harrington, D.
210
Hatch, E.
104
Hawting, G.
34
Heesterman, J.
25
292
Heid, S.
Heimgartner, M.
274,301
Heine, R.
234
Heinemann, 1.
25, 49, 341
Heininger, B.
189
Helm, L.
!51
Helm,R.
85-86
Heiming,O.
338
116, 213, 244-245
Hengei,M.
220
Hennecke, E.
Hermans, T.
269
104, !05
Herrmann, J.
265
Hespel
Hilberg, I.
75
82-84,90, 114,
Himmelfarb, M.
182, 232, 242
Hock, R.
251
Hoeck, J.
255
Hoffleit, H.
68
49, 52, 60
Hoffman, L.
Hofius, 0.
116,182,183,207,
211,229,23!-232
303
Hoi!, K.
Holladay, C.
110
Hollander, H.
83
217,220
Holmes, M.W.
Horbury, W.
148, !49, 188, 193
Hossfeld, F.-L.
265
Hovhannesian, V. ~63
120
Hruby,K.
294,297,299
Hunt, E.
182, !83, 189
Hurst. L.
Guinot, J.-N.
Hacham, N.
Hackett, H.
Hager, D.
Halbwachs, M.
HaBit, J.
Halton, T.
428
Hvalvik, R
Hy1dah1, N.
148, 149, 158

246
Irshai, 0.
246,249,294,297,
298
Isaacs, M.
192
Isenberg, W.
232-233
Jacobson, H.
16,210
Jacquier, E.
214
Janini, J.
303, 306
Janowski, B.
87, 116
Janssens, Y.
233-234
Jegher-Bucher, V. 74,274
Jeremias, J.
177,229
Jervell, J.
214-215
Jones, F.
247
lung, C. G.
7
Jungmann
269
Kl:isemann
185,204
Kazhdan, A.
291
Kelly, J.
274
Kennel, G.
211
Kimelman, R.
1
Kirk, A.
162
Kister, M.
44, 45, 61, 161
Klauck, H.-J.
115,201
Klingshirn, W.
314
Klostermann
273
Knibb, M.
86-87
Knoh1, I.
123, 188, 313-314
KnOppler, T.
145-146, 197, 202,
204
Kobelski, P.
91
Koester, C.
182
Koester, H.
see KOster, H.
Kohler, K.
335,339
Kosmala, H.
284
KOster, H.
146, 149, 161, 162,
163, 164, 170, 192
KOtting, B.
244
Kovacs, J.
237,239,241,242
Kraft, R.
1, 148, 149, 150,
151
Kraus, W.
22, 95, 105, 127,
146, 197-203,205,
272
Krauss, S.
71-72
Kulik, A.
92-94
Lake, K.
151, 153, 172,214
Lampe, G.
270,271,272
Lampe, P.
232-233
Lane, D.
Lane, W.
Lang, B.
Laporte, J.
Larsson, G.
Latte, K.
Lauterbach
Lawlor, H.
Le Boulluec, A.
Le Deaut
Le Goff, J.
Leclerq, H.
Lecuyer, J.
Lehmann, M.
Lenhardt, P.
Leonhard, C.
Leonhardt, J.
Levy-Strauss, C.
Lewy, Heinrich
Liddell, H.
Lieberman, S.
Liebermann, S.
Liebreich, L.
Lieu, J.
Ligier, L.
Lilla, S.
Linder, A.
Loader, W.
Lohmeyer, E.
Lohse, E.
Longenecker, R.
Louf, A.
Lueken, W.
Lupieri, E.
Luz. U.
Lyonnet, S
Maccoby, H.
Macdonald, J.
Mach, M.
Mack, H.
Maher, M.
Maier, J.
Malachi, Z.
Manns, F.
Mara, M.
Marbach, E.
Marc, P.
102
181, 188, 190, 191
127
107, 109
19
297
30, 42, 65-67, 106,
125-126
247
237,238-239
190
7
304,343
195-196
44
209-210
69,264
107,209
9
68,70
104
128,251-252,285
see Lieberman, S.
49
119,205
3, 272, 330n, 335342
237,241
11,276, 277
182, 184, 185, 190,
193-196
207, 208, 209,211
115, 185, 197
174
157, 167
91,231
196
166
209
166
44
242
49
129
49,135,285
54, 59, 60, 61
251
161, 163, 164
34, 75
92
Marcovich, M.
155
Marrou, H.
231,231
Martyn, J.
174
Marx, F.
306
Massingberd Ford, J. 170
Mateos, J.
292,298
Mathews, E.
253,264
Mayer, G.
245
McCollough, T.
263
McLean, B.H.
127, 171, 173, 174,
175, 176
304
McNally, R.
McNamara, M.
91
McVey,K.
253
Mehat,A.
237
Meinhold, J.
19
291, 300
Mercenier, R.
Meritt, R.
167
Merkel, J.
166
Merklein, H.
197,204
Metzger, M.
217,222,275,343
Michel,O.
117, 170, 182, 185,
186
18, 29, 30, 31, 100,
Milgrom, J.
106, 127
Milik, J.
37, 87, 88, 90, 91,
97, 115
Mirkin, A.
177.
Mirsky, A.
15, 32, 34, 59, 64,
97,286,287
Mittmann-Richert, U. 213
Mohlberg, L.
304, 313
Molenberg, C.
88
Moo, D.
149, 162, 197, 199,
199,202,204
Morgan, M.H.
75
Morgenstern, J.
56
Morin, G.
303, 309, 312
Morray-Jones, C. 85,242
MUller, K.
103
Munck, J.
247
Mutius, H.G. von 52, 134
123, 188,313-314
Naeh, S.
Nathan, G.
314
Nau,F.
323, 324
Neirynck, F.
162
129
Netzer, E.
Neusner, J.
20
Newman, H.
71-72
Newsom, C.
84,85,91
429
270
82,86,87,89,162
218
109
37-44, 132
303,312
Nocent. A.
Norlin, G.
103
207,216,217
O'Brien, P. T.
O'Fearghail, F.
32
54
Offer, J.
Onnann, G.
52
Oswalt, J.
117
Otto, R
46
233-234
Pagels, E.
244
Painter, J.
291,300
Paris, F.
Patlagean, E.
7
324
Payne Smith
264
Peiper, R.
Perrot, C.
54, 56, 97
214
Pesch, R.
Petrosyan, E.
300
Pfann, S.
132
92,93,94
Philonenko
Philonenko-Sayar, B. 92, 93, 94
Pines, S.
277
Porter, S.
244
Pradels, W.
274,301
Pralon, D.
103, 104
Pratscher, W.
244,247
Prigent, P.
148, 149, 150, 151,
154, 157, 158
Procter, E.
240-241
Prostmeier, F.
148, 194, 196
Puech, E.
90,91
Rabbinovicz. R.
19, 31, 52, 53, 59,
284
Rabinovitz, Z.
59,285
Raes, A.
337
Ramsay, G.G.
69
Redpath, H.
104
Reed, A.
138
Reeg, G.
139
Reingold, E.
300
Rengstorf, K.
105
Renoux, Ch. [~A.] 292,294,295,298,
300
Reuss, J.
326
Richard, M.
158
Ricoeur, P.
8
Nibley, H.
Nickelsburg, G.
Niederwimmer, K.
Nikiprowetzky, V.
Nitzan, B.
430
Rigg,H.
166
182
274
232
Rolfe, J.C.
68
Roloff, J.
205
Rordorf, W.
218
Rosenberg, Y.
19,24, 31, 59,131
Roth, C.
32,60
Rouwhorst, G.
213,222,265
Rubin, z.
299
Rubinkiewitz, R. 85, 89, 90, 92, 93,
94
Racker,A.
338
Sabbah, G.
291, 295
Sabourin, L.
173
Sit.enz-Badillos, A. 74,263,267,280
Safrai, S.
20, 32, 120
Sagnard, F.
229, 230, 238-239,
240
Samter, E.
75
Satran, D.
255
Schafer, P.
19, 52, 134, 135,
231
Scharbert, J.
116
Scheftelowitz, I.
46
Schelkle, K.
178
Scherman, N.
40,65,339
Schiffinan, L.
98
Schlesier, R.
103
SchlUter, M.
52, 134
Schmithals, W.
214
Schmitz, 0.
107
Schnackenburg, R. 177-178
Schnelle, U.
176,205,224
Schnusenberg, C. 269-270
Scholem, G.
134,231
SchO!lgen, G.
265,270
Schramm, T.
212
Schiinuner, J.
303
Schwartz, D.R.
30,107,112,117,
173, 174, 175,252
Schwartz, E.
247
Schwartz, J.
294,299,301
Schweizer, E.
207,209,216
Schwemer, A.
255
Scott, R.
104
Scullard, H.
297
Scullion, J.P.
22, 107
Shinan, A.
54
Rissi,M.
Ritter, A.
Robinson, J.
Shoham Steiner, E. 284

35, 36, 57-58
Siegert, F.
Siffrin, P.
304,313
Signer,M.
265
Siles, J.
320
Silver,DJ.
27
Simon,M.
1-2, 72,274
Sindawi, K.
35
Skarsaune, 0.
!50, !55, 156, 160,
!96
Smid, H.
251
Spicq, C.
!82
Stahlin, 0.
238-239
Sternberger, G.
55, 118, 119, 120,
123, 128, 129,301,
302
Sterling, G.
183-!84
Stem,M.
3, 68-72, 109, 172
207,209,210,216
Stettler, C.
StOkl, D. (~Stakl Ben E:rra, D.) 8, 79,
86, 171-172, 173,
194, !95,268
StOkl Ben Ezra, D. 68,212,246,303,
319
Stone, M.
82,84
Strack, H.
62
Strand, K.
146
Strecker, G.
206
Stroumsa, G.
195, 302
Stuckenbruck, L. 86-87
Stuhlmacher, P.
116, 176-177,197,
200
129
Sukenik, E.
Suntrup, R.
269
Swartz, M.
52, 59, 63, 64, 97,
137-138
Synge, F.C.
195-196
Tabory, J.
34,49,55, 106,120
Taft, R.
291
Talley, T.
303,305,309,310,
317
Tampeilini, S.
263,265,282
Tarchnischvi1i, M. 292,294,298,324,
327
Telfer, W.
246
ter Haar Romeny, B. 263
Theissen, G.
7
Thelwall, S.
71, 307
Thornton
161
Tidwell, N.
217
Tigchelaar, E.
Tischendorf
Tonneau, R.-M.
Trlinkle, W.
Treat, J.
Tuilier, A.
Turner, J.
86,90,91
251
267
!56, !58
162, 164
218
234
215
Tyson, J.
120, 132
Urbach, E.
34
Vajda, G.
van den Eynde, C. 69, 264
van den Hoek, A. 237-238
van der Woude, A. 90, 91
van Esbroeck, M. 295,299,300,302
van Goudoever, J. 294,295
van Henten, J.W. 97, 116,201
van Tongeren, L. 291,296,299
VanderKam, J.
86
131
Veltri, G.
317,320
Venetianer, L.
3, 222,251, 256,
Verhelst, S
292, 293, 294, 296,
298,300,327,337342
172
Versnel, H.
Verstrepen, J.-L. 303,306,308,312
Vincent, H.
294
269-270
Volgger, E.
237
VOlker, W.
Vollenweider, S. 211
Watts, J.
117
39,43
Weinfeld, M.
183, 193
Weiss, H.-F.
129
Weiss,Z.
Weissman Joselit, J. 282
Wendland, H.-D. 212
Wengst, K.
431
148, 150, 151, 156,

177
Wenschkewitz, H. 107, 109
Werline, R.
37
317
Wemer,E.
291
Whitby. M.&M.
35, 49, 97
Wieder, N.
204
Wilckens, U.
80
Wildberger
263,265,274,282
Wilken, R.
294
Wilkinson, J.
214
Williams, D.
303
Willis, G.
148, 150, 157
Windisch, H.
Winston, D.
132
48, 84, 96, 129
Wintermute, 0.
Witherington, B. 214
241
Wolfson
195-196
Wong, C.-K.
147, 167
Wratislaw, A.H.
34
Wright, R.B.
266
Wright. W.
320
Wunderer, C.
30
Yadin, Y.
59, 60, 63, 64, 129,
Yahalom, J.
285,286
34, 42. 50, 52, 53,
Yoel, Y.
137,339,343
22, 107, 145, 146,
Young, N.H.
173, 177,178, 179,
187, 189, 197,211
I
Yuval, I.
247,256
Zahn, T.
158
Zani,A.
80, 187
Zimmerli, W.
Zuckschwerdt, E. 248
59, 285
Zulai, M.
Index of Names and Subjects

Aaron 44n, 59,63-64, 187-188, 336,
343n
his priesthood 108, 244
his ordination 63n, 95, 123, 128129,140,188,271-272

his rod 271
his sons 95, 102n, 123
Abel336
ablution (see purification)
Abraham 44n, Ill, 325n, 336
as high priest 124n
blessing of 173
circumcision of 123-124, 140
his sacrifice of Isaac 66-67
in the Apocalypse of A. 92-94
abstinence 33-34, 10&, 248-249,
from eating and drinking 34, 4 7, 57,
71-72,74-75,312,315
from haircutting 248-249
from oiling 34
from sex 34, 57,249
from sleep 22-23,29,34-35, 57,
132
from washing 34, 249
from wearing shoes 74, 249
from wine and meat 248-249
from work 33, 312, 315
(see also kashrut, nudipedalia, sex,
vigil)
Adam 59, 236, 280, 336
adoption (see influence)
afflictions 33-36
mourning 33-35,40,70-71, 75n, 96,
99-101, 106, 129n, 150-152, 160,
219,249
sorrow 44-45, 95, 100
wearing sackcloth and ashes 34, 57,
70-71, 106, 151,219,280
weeping 34, 40, 45, 96, 100, 129n
wipping oneself 34n
wounding oneself 34n
(see also abstinence, atonement, fast,

joy, nudipedalia, tears)
Africa 334
Aggadah (see Midrash)
Alexandria 148n
Christian community in 205
Jewish prayers in 36-37,46--48,
5ln, 61, 65, 77
(see also Barnabas, Clement, Cyril,
Origen, Philo, Pseudo-Philo)
allegory
in Clement 238-243and ritual
implications for ritual 7, 204, 220221
in Origen 266-267
in Philo 7, 78, 107-114
in polemics 278
almsgiving 134,268,313-315
Amalek 122, 124n
Ambrose 250, 255, 267. 332
Amidah 37n, 49-50
additions to 42, 43n, 49n, SOn, 52n,
209,339
and the high-priestly prayer 24-25
angels 8()-94, 252-256
archangels 89, 230, 240
fallen 86-90,92-94, 100, 121, 140,
330
fasting people compared to 132
Gabriel meeting Zechariah 325
God surrounded or served by 82-83,
85, 136, 182,230-231,240-242
high priest compared to 125, 132,
141, 189,242, 328
high priest meeting 8()-81, 125,
252-256
Mary nurtured by an 251n
polemics against worship of216,
220
animal sacrifice 28-33, 65-67

(see also burnt offering, goats,
kapparol, rams)
annunciation
of Gabriel to Zechariah
250-255,322-328,332-333
Antioch 10, 57,205,224,261,273-277,
301, 322
apocalypticism 79-101, 329-330
Azazel in 85-101
and Gnosticism 231-232,236, 242243,
and Hebrews 185-186, 194-197
and Hekhalot texts 136
high priest in 79-85, 89-92, 185186, 194-197
and Philo 112, 115-116
and Rabbinic Jiterature 128-130
(see also imaginaire, apocalyptic;
priests)
apostolic (see influence)
apotropaic 67, 130-131, 176, 177n, 245,
309n,310n,314
Arabic 2, 324
(see also Al-Biruni)
Aramaic 54, 87n, 88n, 92, 122n, 177178,204,218,253n,255
Aravit 49 (see also evening)
Aristides 220, 282n, 331
ark of the covenant 21-22,80, 105, 198,
203,271,278-279
Armenian 2, 4n, 57-59, 262, 263, 264n,
272n,291,299-300,30ln
Asael85-90, 92, 138-139
Ashura 34n, 325n
Asia minor 119n, 148n, 16ln, 256
atonement 2-3, 114, 126-127
and afflictions 47n, 96-97, 101, 114,
134,181,222,253-254,268
and blood sacrifice (see sacrifice and
kapparot)
and charity or good deeds 134, 268,
313-3!5
Christian in opposition to Jewish
151,153,155,273-275,278-280,
283
and creation 63-64,208-210
and the death of the sinner 133-134,
286
and the death of a martyr 102, 115-
433
116, 116-1]7, 130,176,268

and the death of Jesus 145,151,153,
155,171,205-206,208,215,219,
221-222,226,273-274
eschatological 81-82, 91
expiation vs. propitiation 15, 17
and high-priestly garments 81, 126127
and the high-priestly intercession
190,194,206,253-254
and high-priestly ritual 83-84, 318
and kapparot 66-67, 126-127
for mythological sins 96-97, 122123
as name of Yom Kippur 15-17
and popular confessions 113-114,
126,205-206,217,268
and prayer 114, 222, 313n
and red ribbon 131, 170, 284
and repentance 114, 126, 134, 217,
253-254
and sacrifices 105, 114, 126, 156,
190,200
and scapegoat 88, 94, 106, 113, 116117, 127-129, !56
and the True Cross 298-302
universal 113, 133, 206, 208
vicarious I 02, 115-116, 116-117,
130,145,205-206,219,221-222,
226,268,286
Augustine 263, 266, 267n, 283, 314,
320n
Augustus 68n, 70
Azazel 98, 141, 160
as Demon 24n, 67, 79-80, 85-95,
98, 121
goat for 24n, 29, 128
and kapparot 61
mythologization of79, 80, 85-95,
141
Babylonian prayers (see prayers)
baptism 188, 193, 206, 210n, 293n, 233,
239, 268, 313n
Barabbas 147, 165-171,224,266,267,
330
biblical (see influence)
blood
absence of83, 100, 108,279
allegorized 112-113
and Joseph 96-97
'I"'
I
434
animal and human 130

atoning 97, 105, 115, 126-127, 127,
172,198,205,208
Jesus' 166, 172, 187-193, 198,205,
208
sacrifices 25-32,65--67, 105, 127-
130,187-193,205-206
in Seder Avodah 60
(see also sprinkling)
Boethusians 30, 106, 126n
bookish (see influence)
Booths (see Sukkot)
Brahmans 25
bridal chamber 3, 85, 126, 228, 232-
237,239,242-243,330
burnt offerings 21n, 29n, 31, 32, 129,
152-153,254,271
Caesarea 77, 132,261, 262n, 273,277,
299n
December 304, 305n, 306n, 308n,

Calendar, Qumran 37
Canonization
of Christian texts 3, 146,226,261,
267,331
of Jewish prayers 54
of Jubilees 99
of Mishnah 119
Celsus 172
Christ (see Jesus)
Christian Jews
defmition of tenn 10
festival calendar 6, 204, 212n, 213-
Shvat 326
Adar 326
Nisan 97, 123-124, 213n, 256, 308n,
3lln,326,327n,331
Sivan 308n
Tammuz 56n, 311, 327
Av249,311,327
Elul 136, 326

Calendar, festal (see festival)
Calendar, Julian 296-297, 309-311,
323-327
January 309, 311
March 326, 327n
April250n, 3lln, 326
June 308-311
July 309-311,327
August296n,297n,309-311
September 4, 74, 253-254, 293-303,
303-322,323-327,328n
October 254, 296n, 311n, 323-327
November 309, 324n
Pseudo- 320n
Cyril
of Alexandria 4n, 20n, 29n, 69, 77,
227, 329
and the temple 7n, 218, 221
290,305n,324n
Chrysostom (see John Chrysostom)
circumcision 220, 273
Tevet 311,326
of Gaul 264, 282, 283
and high priests 256

imaginaire 78, 85, 94-95, 118, 145-
Calendar, Babylonian 296-297,309-
Kislev 308n, 326
157, 175
ofJesus 154, 164, 173-176
against Jewish priests 279
against Christian priests 287
Cyprian
of Carthage 270-271
218,273
Christmas 9-10, 253,257,281-282,
Marheshvan, Heshvan 301,326
in Hebrews 189
in Philo 108, 113
in Qumran prayers 41, 43, 210n
in rabbinic texts 122, 123
in Seder Avodah 45n, 59, 63-64
in Sirach 209n
curse
and scapegoat 3In, 108, 152-154,
309,311,323,324n
Cain 336
311,323-327
Tishri 4, 69, 123-124,253-254,290,
293n,301-302,308n,311,320,322,
323,324-327,331-333
262-268, 279-283
of Jerusalem 274; 297-299, 302,
326n
Damascus 205
dance 36, 57
Jewish d. in Jewish sources 36, 57
Jewish d. on Sukkot 296
Jewish d. witnessed by pagans 69-
of Abraham 123-124, 140

Clement of Alexandria 30n, 228, 232,
237-243,330
Clement of Rome 172, 194n, 218n, 270
compassion (see mercy)
compulsion (see influence)
confession
and atonement 59-60, 114, 126
and Jesus 186-187
and the kapparot 67
and mystical prayer 138
in the Passion narrative 167-170
as prayer (vidduy) 39, 48, 50, 51-54,
70,72,74, 77,250n,280-282
Muslim d. on Ashura 34n
dangerous ones in between 1, 273,333
(see also Christian Jews, Godfearers, Jewish Christians and
Judaizers)
Daniel bar Tubanita 264
Days of Awe 73, 121
David 5, 183n, 194
Delos 39, 48, 58
demons (see Azazel, Shemihaza, devil,
Satan)
demythologization 106
destruction of the temple 13, 18-19,35,
59-60,65,126,127,205-206,212,
217,268,286,314,335-342
in the temple 2ln, 24-27, 29n, 31,
59-60, 127, 136, 169

Constantine 295,297, 299n
Coptic 2, 324
cosmology, cosmological 79, 83, 94,
126,135,139,221,227,236,283284,311,329,331
Dionysus 68
devil (see Satan) 67, 80-81,94, 121,
108-114, 132, 180,216,226, 231

Council ofLaodicea 276n
covenant42,44n, 187-188
renewal of 42, 45, 95, 122, 124, 188
creation
in Christian prayers 336, 342-343
in Colossians 207-210
127-130, 136, 180, 185, 193,206,

314, 318, 328 (see also demons)
diaspora
Babylonian 54-59, 65, 119
Mediterranean 14, 33-34, 45-48,
54-59, 101-118, 119,223

(see also prayers, Philo, Septuagint)
Dio Chrysostomus 199
dream 22, 165, 169

Dura Europos 118
Easter 4n, 124, 213n, 218,256,290,
292n,293,307,317,32ln
(see also Passover)
Egypt45,95, Ill, 172,292n,334

(see also Alexandria)
Elijah 55, 248, 324n
Apocalypse of48
Elisha 343n
Ember Days 303-322, 333
Encaenia 290-303, 332
Enoch 82-83, 89, 343n (see also
I Enoch)
Entrance (see high priest and holy of
holies)
Ephrem
on Christ's birth 255
on Yom Kippur 16n, 73, 76-77,
280-283, 332
on Zechariah 250, 253n, 325, 328
Pseudo-Ephrem 264, 267n, 268n,
293n
Epiphanius 245, 246-249, 256n
eschatology, eschatological 76, 85-95,
97-100, 115-116, 181-197, 203204,226-227,318,329-330

atonement 91, 181, 226-227
high-priestly liberator 90-92, 101,
185-186, 226-227
in Gnosticism 229-231, 236, 243
in Philo 108, 112
judgment 82
liberation 95,98-99, 140, 181, 185-
186
meal I 57
purification 81, 91, 115
victory over evil41, 85-90, 94, 95,
98, 115-116, 138, 141, 181, 185186

esoteric knowledge 23, 84, 130n, 137139,237, 241 (see also priests,
secret knowledge)
Essenes (see Qumran)
Eucharist
contrasted with fast 72, 151-161,
210n,219,224
435
436
and templization 226, 233, 261,
269-272
and Yom Kippur 269-272, 4n, 335-
343
Eusebius of Caesarea
on Yom Kippur 15,68-69,274,

282-283,332
on James 246-249,
on the Holy Sepulcher 271, 291,297
Eusebius of Emesa 263

Eve 59,236
evening
of Jacob lamenting 96, 129n
star280
Tamid 29n, 32
of Yom Kippur 73-74
(see also Aravit)
Exaltation of the Cross 4, 290-303,332
Exegesis of Leviticus
Christian 76, 148-149,261-289

function of8, 76-77,268,277-283
Jewish 18-19,21, 23, 27, 113,283288
(see also allegory, typology)
expiation (see atonement)
fast
apotroic function 314
and the battle with Amalek 122
described by non-Jews 68-77,253-
254,278-283,315-316,326-327
on the Exaltation of the Cross 300-
302
of Gedaliah 318
as means of atonement 140, 73n, 313
as name for Yom Kippur 15-17,
107, 117
in the Diaspora 106-107, 114, 117
in Islam 34n
in Karaism 34n
and public fasts 56n, 57-58, 64, 72n
observed by non-Jews 22n, 213-218,
227,273-277,330-331,343
polemicized against by Christians
219-223,277-283,331
purifying aspect 48n
as punishment 101
in Qwnran 100
in Samaritanism 34n
of the Seventh Month (see Ember
Days)
on Yom Kippur 34
paschal4n, 222n, 307, 308n, 317
Fast of the Seventh Month
(see Ember Days).
festivals
Christian participation in Jewish 71-
72,74,77,157,213-223,261,273277,282,283,288,306,315-316,
322,329,331-334
Jewish observance of 46, 306
pagan observation of71-72, 214
Jewish influence on Christian 290-
328
(see also Hannukah, New Moon,
Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Sabbath
Shuvah, Sukkot; Christmas, Easter,
Ember Days, Encaenia, Epiphany,
Exaltation, Lent, Pentecost, Sunday;
Ashura; Ides, Ludi Romani,
Thargelia)
food prohibitions (see fast, Kashrut)
forgiveness (see atonement, mercy)
Gabriel 87-88, 250-254, 322-329
Gaonites SOn, 56, 60, 65-67, 134
garments
bells on 155
change of28--32, 81, 93-94, 111112, 135-136, 193,239,241-243
festal garments of people 36,57-58,
71-72,77,128,280
garb of light 233, 235, 238, 239
garment of opinions 112
golden gannents 22n, 28-32, 96n,
170n, 196n,240
heavenly gannents 80, 93, 125, 135136,239
interpretation of golden garments
96-97, 111-112, 122-123, 126, 155,
238
Joseph's gannent 96, 129n
linen gannents of high priest 28-32,
58,81-83,122-123,247
linen garments of priests 80, 82-83
messianic 163, 170
of pharmakos 171
ragged clothes 74-75,315
white garments of people 35
white garments of priests 82, 125
(see also sackcloth)
Gentile Christian(s)
audience 22n, 148n, 176,201-202,
224n
defmition 10, 274n
festal calendar 212n, 216,222-223,
227,331
Hegesippus as 246n
mission to the 158--159, 173
salvation for 174-176,203-204
Georgian 2, 291-293, 339n,
gezera shavvah 26n, 122n
Gnosticism 30n, 79, 134, 140, 185n,
228-244
goats 127-130, 150-161, 165-171,
202-203, 266-267
and Joseph 67,95-97
lottery between 21n, 29, 98, 113,
117, 165, 166-169,278

sacrificial goat 29-32, 60-61, 96n,
138, 152-161, 169-171, 187, 192,

208,279
similarity of two 29, 152-157, 159-
160,167-170,266
third goat 28n, 32, 150-152, 157,
160-161
as two kinds of humans 113
(see also scapegoat)
God
compassion of39, 45, 48n, 95, 122-
123, 129, 134,203,253,295,313

grace of 46
judgment by 52, 58, 121, 122-123,

201,210
lot of98
omniscience of 39, 48n, 58, 201, 341
presence of39, 48n, 79, 81, 106,
126, 135, 180-191, 193-194,208,

249,256
throne of 80, 82
vision of79-85, 100, 107, 110-112,
114,134-139,232,236-243
wrath of200, 203,279
(see also name)
Godwfearers 214-215,219,222, 342
golden garments (see garments)
Gregory of Nazianz 4n, 271-272
Haftarah 55-59,76, 156,280

Halakhah
and Didache 218
437
and historicity 19-28

and Josephus 22
and kapparot 61
and Matthew 169
and Philo 61-62
and polemics 284, 288
of post-temple prayers 49-65,340
and Proto-typology 159-160, 175,
223-224,267-268,332
and the Septuagint 105
of temple ritual28-33
Hanukkah 281-282, 294, 308n, 310

Hegesippus 218,246-250,254-255,
256n, 257,331
Hekhalot 59n, 79, 118, 125, 134-139,
140,228,231,242,329
Hellenistic Judaism 46-48, 101-118,
204-205
Hezekiah 343n
high priest, high-priestly 124-127
becoming superhumane 110-112,
125, 242, 279

bishops as 245, 269-272
celebration at the end of Yom
Kippur 33, 126
Christian as 268-269
confession 21n, 24-27, 29n, 31, 51,
59-60, 127, 136, 169

corruption 124-126
entrance to the holy of holies 30-31,
80, 82-83, 110-112, 125, 180,229243

interceding 30, 83, 186-187, 189-
190,206,218,246-249,253-255,
269,222,245,269
James as 246-150
Jesus as 160, 180-197,206,213,
218,225-226,229-230,233-234,
253-254,261,265-266,318-320
John as 256
Messiah 90-92, 10 I, 195-196, 223
mystic as 79-85, 110-112, 134-139,
233-243
in polemics 278-279, 284-288
popular imitation of 132
popular observation of 32, 60-61,
269
praying 19,24-28,30,32, 83, 109,
113,186-187,189,247-248,253254,256-257
438
reading 24-27, 32-33, 55, 58-59,61

sacrificing 28-33, 59-64, 187-189,
335-336
Simeon as 255-256
in Valentinian Soteriology 228-243
vigil22-23, 29, 132
visions of God 79-85, 110-112,
134-139, 233-243
wise man as 110-112
Zechariah as 250-255, 322-328
(see also visions of God)
Hippolytus 154, 158-159, 195,224,
256, 332
holy of holies
in Christian churches 271-272, 296
entered by believers 188, 190-191
entered by Gnostics 230,233-237,
241
entered by high priest 30-31, 80,
229-243
entered by James 247-248
entered by Jesus 180-197
entered by mystic 79-85, 110-112,
134-139, 23&-243
entered by Zechariah 150
heavenly 83-85, 110-112
(see also high priest, intercession,
sprinkling)
Holy Sepulcher 271, 290, 293,301-302
hymns 206-212
(see also piyyut, Seder Avodah)

Ides of September 297
Ignatius of Antioch 10, 194n, 2l7n
imaginaire
definition of 8-10
of Yom Kippur:
Apocalyptic 79-100, 112, 115, 136,
193-197,226
early Christian 101, 145-227,327
Gnostic 100,228-243
Greek Diaspora 101-118
Jewish 78-139,243,252, 255
Rabbinic 118-134
incense 2ln, 24, 28, 30, SOn, 84, 100,
106, 108, 111-113, 126, 193, 250,
252,279
incense altar 188-189, 193n, 240-241, 242n, 253n
influence
adoption 5-6,243,288-289,310-
312,317,328n,321-322,339-341
apostolic 4, 5, 145-227,243, 306,
310-312,316
biblical 5, 311-312, 317, 339-341
bookish 5, 57-58,261-262,282,
288,301,315-321,328,331
compulsion 5-6
defmitions of types of 4-6
Ortsgeist 5, 301, 333
reaction 5-6,289, 320n, 321
(see also polemics)
iniquity 39-40,42, 43n, 51, 53n, 92n,
138, 175, 338 (see also sin)
intercession
of animals 58
of Enoch 82-83
of high priest 30, 83n, 246-249,
253-255,269,222,245,269
of James 218, 221, 246-250
of Jesus 181,185,189-190,193194, 206, 222, 253
of Moses 55,318
popular intercession replacing highpriestly 222, 269, 313n
prophetic 83n
of Zechariah 253-255
(see also high priest)
Irenaeus 222n, 228, 233, 252n
Isaac 43,66-67, 129-130, 151,336
Islam 34n, 252n, 325n, 333
Ivo of Chartres 269, 270n
Jacob 43, 44n, 95-96, 128-129, 325n,
336
Jacob ofSarug 69,267,281
James the Just 3, 218,243-250,256257,323,331
Jerome 75n, 76, 247,256,267,271,
296,306,311,332
Pseudo-Jerome 167
Jerusalem
benediction about 24n
Christian Jews of 192,215, 218,256
churchfathers from 77, 250n, 263,
271, 274,282
date for annunciation to Zechariah
324-327
daughters of 36
finding of relics in 323
mountains of 88
in polemics 155-156,278

qibla to 72n
transition of priests from 64
(see also anonymous of Jerusalem,
Cyril, Encaenia, Exaltation,
Hesycbius, temple)
Jesus
as atonement 156,205-206
crucifixion of 149, 154, 166-167,
187
as high priest 180--197
identical with Barabbas 167-169
as kapporet 197-205
Parousia of 154-160, 167, 181, 190,
193
Passion of 147, 148-161, 161-165,
165-171, 180,223,225,236,291n
as scapegoat 147-179, 206, 267268,270n
(see also atonement, curse, high
priest, intercession, scapegoat)
Jewish Christians
community in Jerusalem 301-302
definition I 0
festival calendar 212-213,218,222223,244,245-246,257,273-274
and Gnostics 243
influence on "Judaizers" 277,321322,342
legends 244-257
(see also Hegesippus, Porphyry)
Job 336, 343n
John Chrysostom 74-77,221-222,250,
274-275,278-283,295,315,331333
Josef l26n, 138-139, 336
Josephus 22-23, 78, 105, 117, 130,
199-200,202,214,330
Joshua son Jehozadak 80-81, 95, 195,
200
Joshua son of Nun 195, 200, 336, 343n
joy
33-36,69,72-73,77,99,280-281
(see also afflictions; dance; high
priest, celebration)
Judaizers 77, 273-275, 277, 306, 315317,321-322
judgment 121-122, 163, 165,203, 210
Yom Kippur as judgment day 36, 52,
57, SOn, 82, 83n, 87-88, 91, 94, 124,
140
439
Julian 266
Justin Martyr 155-156, 157-160,281,
283, 332, 336
Justinian 6
Juvenal69-70, 74
kapparot 65--61
kapporet (l;l..amf)ptov, n1l:lJ, ;Rl.UUUpmb)
30, 80, 104-106, 115, 127, 187,
197-205,261,266,270,272,299300, 302, 331
Karaites 34n, 35
kashrut 216,220
Kingdom of God 49n, 135, 136, 138,
139, 153, 154,207,208, 209n (see
also "malkhuyot'')
Lamb of God 147, 176-179,226,254
Lections (see reading)
Lent304,305,32ln
Leo the Great 74-77,281-283, 304306,312-317,320-322,332-333
Levi (Amoraite) 53
Levi (son of Jacob) 44n, 64, 83, 113,
137n, 238, 284 (see also Aaron)
Levite 95, 148n, 234n, 238, 239, 244,
255, 330 (see also Aaron)
liturgy (see festivals, ritual)
Lot 336, 343n
ludi Romani 297
magic 66, 131
manna 33, 41, 45, 47, 73n, 97, 100,
124n,271
Marcion 156
martyrs, martyrdom 78, 115-116, 139n,
154,176, 198-201,223n,268
Mary 251, 255, 256n, 323, 327n
Melchizedek 64, 90--92, 98-99, 184,
191,232,284,334,336
memory
collective 4, 5n, 145
and the Passion narrative 149
of the temple rituall9, 23,27-28,
88, 139
mercy 134, 137, 342-343
and afflictions 34n, 45, 100,253
alms and 313-314
Christian requests for divine 295,
298
and name of Yom Kippur 16,
and repentance 95,
440
Index ofNames and Subjects
and sacrifices 129, 313-314

special season of 45, 95
mercy seat (see kapporet)
Merkavah (see Hekhalot)
Metatron 135
Michael84n, 89,90-91, l84n, 231n,
29ln
Michael Syros 264
name(s)
Minhah 49, 50n, 55-56, 60n
Noah 43, 44n, 95, 140, 199, 300n, 325n,

336
miracles 22n, 47, 125,288

Mishnah
attitude towards high priests 125
and historicity 19-28, 136-137, 202
Temple ritual28-33, 119-120, 124-
131
ritual of the people 33-36,49-65,
119-120, 133,202,217,249
(see also rabbis)
mission to the Gentiles (see Gentiles)
Mordechai 343n
Moses 47, 55, 73n, Ill, 121-122,318,
325n,336
mourning (see afflictions)
Mysticism
Clementine 237-243
Hekhalot 134-139
Philonic 110-112, 237-239,242-
243
proto-mysticism 79-85
Valentinian 228-243
(see also visions)
myth, mythical, Mythology
defmition 7-8
and Gnostic soteriology 228-232
and the Holy Land 6, 301-302
and imaginaire 9
and Passion 145-171, 173-206,
223-226, 329
mythological events
connected to Yom Kippur 66-67,
85-95,95-97,121-124,128,140,
181,328, 329
mythologization 79
ofAzazel85-95, 128-129
of high priest 79-85
of Jesus 145-171, 173-206,223226,268,329

(see also demythologization)
Nach.manides 67
Nadav and Avihu 95
God's 41, 60, 135-139, 189,211212,217,240-242,338

Jesus' 189,211-212
of Yom Kippur 15-17
Nazirites 215n, 245,248-249
Ne'ilah 43n, 49, SOn, 56, 132, 343
New Moon 108n, 136,216,220
nudipedalia 34n, 70n, 74-75,315,322

observance ofYom Kippur
by Christians 213-223,273-277
by Jews 46, 71-72
by pagans 214n
(see also God-fearers)
observation of high priest by people
(see high priest)
ordo commendationis animae 343
Origen 15, 77, 110, 168, 172,220-224,
234,261-269,273-283,289,329,
331-332
Ortsgeist (see influence)
Oxyrhynchus 62
Pagans 1,3,8,199-200,220
celebrating Yom Kippur 71-72,
214n
as converts to early Christianity
222-223,227,268,332
describing the Jewish Yom Kippur
68-70
enculturation of pagan concepts in
Judaism 101-106
and the Encaenia 297
majority of inhabitants of Jerusalem
301-302
origin of the Ember Days 309-310,
322
(see also nudipeda/ia, pharmakos.,
ludi Romanl)
Palestine 5, 16, 33,
Christian Jewish competition in
273-274,278,283-289,334-343
Jewish prayers 37-46, 49, 50, 52
readings in 54-59
(see also Apocalypse of Abraham,
Encaenia, Exaltation, I Enoch,
Eusebius, Jerusalem, Josephus,
Jubilees, Origen, prayers, Seder
T
!
I

Avodah, temple ritual, Testament of
Levi, Zechariah)
Palm Sunday 296n
Parousia 154-161, 181, 190, 193
Participation of People
(see high priest - popular
observation of; observance of Yom
Kippur)
Passover, Paschal2, 41
Aqedah on 123-124
Christian observance of273
circumcision of Abraham on 123-
124
Lamb 155, 176-177
release of prisoner on 166
(see also Easter)
Paul 171,173-176, !97-205,208,211212,214n,215-216,219,221,224227,266,330-331,343n

Peace44,49n, 65n, 98, Ill, 113n, 132,
167,208,210
Pentecost 2, 213, 215n, 290,304, 305n,
308n,310,312n,317
Persia (see also Babylonia)
Peter 343n
Pharisees 30, 99, 113, 126, 202, 316
pharmakos 147, 155, 171-173, 176,
223n,224,268,332
441
day-long 45, 46, 49, 61

in the Diaspora 46--48
heavenly 82, 85, 135, 135-139,240,

241-242
Hekhalot 137-138, 139
obligatory 49-50, 58
observed by Christians 71-73, 76,
77,280-281
Palestinian 37-46, 49, 50, 52
Qumran 37-46
rabbinic 49-64, 284-288, 335-343
sacrifices and 100, 102, 133
(see also confession, Aravit,
Haftarah, high priest, intercession,
James, Minhah, Ne'ilah, observance
of Yom Kippur, Priester blessing,
readings, Seder Avodah, Shaharit,
templization, Zechariah)
presence of God (see God)
priest(s), priestly
and apocalypticism 79, 82-83,232
and Barnabas I48n
benediction over 24
blessing 49
in Christianity 215n, 245,270-271,
332
eating sin offering 32, 150-152, 157
Josephus as 22
ordination of84n, 123, 187-188,
Philo 46--48, 107-114, 237-239,242243
313
Pinhas 343n
Plato and Platonism 103n, 112, 114,
and Philo 30n, 108-113, 118

and polemics, 7, 82n, 152-156, 184,
182-184
Plutarch 36, 68-69
polemics
anti-Christian 283-289
anti-Jewish 72, 148-161,219-222,
277-289,295,315-317
pagan 68-70
(see also influence, polemical)
Polycarp 194,256
Polycrates 245,256
Porphyry staurophylax 299
prayers 36-65, 207-212, 284-289, 314315,335-343

atoning function 46
Babylonian 49-64
278-279,284-288,332
priestly origin of Seder Avodah 45n,
63-64,284-288
rivalry with sages 125
secret priestly knowledge 23, 84,
130n, 135-139,237
Simeon as 256-257
the wicked 98
(see Gnosticism. high priest, Seder
Avodah, esoteric knowledge)
propitiation (see atonement)
Proto-Typology 81n, 147-161, 165,
196,219,223-227,267-268-332
purification 127
of the high priest 29, 81n, l02n,
Christian 314-315,330,335-343
238-240
continuity of synagogue with temple
affliction as 46, 96
by baptism 193
18-19,24-28,64-65,136
442
escbatological81, 89, 91
and the Fast of the Seventh Month
309n,312-316,322
Greek p. rites 171
and Isaiah SOn
by Jesus 187-189,205-206
of the land 81, 89, 115
of the mystic 135-136
of people 96, 99, 108n, 187-189
of the sanctuary 106, 182n, 187-189
before Yom Kippur 29, 73
Qaraites (see Karaites)
Quartadecimans 256
Qumran 37-46, 90--92, 97-100
Rab52
Rabbi 133
Rabbi Abbahu 125n, 133n
Rabbi Aqiva 23, 32n, 102n, 136, 139,
284
Rabbi Ba bar Bina 52
Rabbi Eliezer 23, 32n
Rabbi Harnnuna 53
Rabbi Meir I2ln, 133
Rabbi Yehudah 53, 62, 121, 133n
RabbiYehudahHaNasi l7n, 19
Rabbi Yishmaell28n, 130n, 131, 133134, 135
Rabbi Yohanan 132
Rabbi Yonathan 53
Rabbi Yosef 248
Rabbi Yosef Qaro 67
Rabbis 28-33,49-65, 118-134,283284
rain 44, 75n, 248
ram
and the Aqedah 129
Christian typologization of 266
confused with goats 128
in the kapparot ritual 66-67, 130
moment of sacrifice of23, 31
number of22, 28n, 31, l12n
Philo on the sacrifice of the 108
the rabbis on the sacrifice of the 124,
128
Rashba 67
Rava 53
Ravya bar Qisi 117n, 130, 140, 330
reaction (see influence)
readings
high priestly 24--27,32-33,55, 58-
59,61
on Sabbath Shuva 56, 319
on the Annunciation to Zechariah
244, 327-328
on the Encaenia 294-295, 298
on the Fast of the Seventh Month 76,
304,310,317-322
on Yom Kippur 54-59, 65, 76, 77,
99,319-321,321-322
ritual status of 58-59
(see also Haftarah)
Rechabites 249, 256n
Red Heifer 169, 170n, 188n
red ribbon 29, 124, 129, 130-131, 159160,165,268,279,283-284
redemption 121, 123-124, 140, 173176,186,189-191,198,207-210,
233
reenactment
of eschatological myth 98, 141
of Jewish Christian legends 322-329
reciting Bible as 54, 61
reciting the Mishnah as 28
in Second Temple Judaism 33, 4546, 61--62, 65, 114, 140, 16ln
in Seder Avodah 33, 50, 51, 59-61,
127
renewal of covenant (see covenant)
repentance
of Azazel 128
and Christian liturgy 318-319, 320n,
342-343
confession as manifestation of 54
created before the world 132
in de so/stitiis 253-254
golden calf and 124, 129
in Hebrews 186
in Hekhalot literature 136
Joseph's brothers and 48, 51, 95-96,
!00, 101, 126n, 132
in Justin 155-156, 160
Noah's 95
in Origen 266
in Philo 108, 114, 132
as nion; 201
in Pseudo-Jonah 57
in Qumran 38--39, 45, 132
in rabbinic sources 24n, 119, 121,
124, 126, 128, 132-134
and the readings of the Fast of
and the rogations 314n

September 318-319
in Romans 20 I, 203
of Shemihaza 128
ten Days of Awe and 121
vicarious repentance 133
(see also atonement, mercy)
resurrection 213n, 233, 271
(see also Jesus, Parousia, Passion)
revelation
in Gnosticism 236-237
on Mount Sinai 95
natural laws and 325
and Zechariah 250-252, 257, 325,
328
rite 6-7
definition of 6
(see also afflictions, animal
sacrifice, baptism, bridal chamber,
circwncision, Eucharist, ritual,
scapegoat, sprinkling)
ritual6-7
definition of 6
of the people 33-77, 107-109, 132134
in the temple 28-33, 109-114, 124132
(see also afflictions, animal
sacrifice, bridal chamber, entrance,
Eucharist, festivals, reading,
reenactment, temple ritual)
Rome 70,74-75,205,214-216,221,
273,303-322,329
(see also Clement, Hippolytus,
Justin, Juvenal, Leo)
Rosh Hashanah
and creation 208-209
and Christians 275, 318-319
as judgment day 36n, 38n, 39n, 121,
210
mythological events on 123-124
prayers 44n, 208-209, 285
and Shofar 76
Sabbath, Saturday
antiMChristion polemics and 285
Christian polemics against 216,220
Christian observance of 212n, 215n
Christianization of 2
and Ember Days 304-305,307,310312,317-318,320
443
and name of Yom Kippur 16, 69-70,

217-218
in pagan texts 68
in Philo 108n
prayers on 49
prohibition to fast on 307
rest 89, 98n
as Yom Kippur69-70, 89, 98n, 217218
Yom Kippur falling on 120
(see also Sabbath Shuva, Songs of
the Sabbath Sacrifice)
Sabbath Shuva 56,318-319
sackcloth and ashes 34, 57, 70, 71n,
106, 151,219,280
sacred space
open space 70-72, 280
(see also synagogue, temple, church)
sacred time
in Hebrews 181
in Qwnran 97-100
(see also calendar, eschatological,
festivals)
sacrifice, sacrificial
anllnal28-33,65-67, 120,150
human 65-66, 117, 130, 158, 171173, 181, 187
rabbinic interpretation of 124-130
spiritual25, 64-65, 84-85, 108,
112-114, 132-133, 180, 181, 186,
187-189,265-272
and suffering servant 116-117
(see also blood, burnt offering, high
priest, pharmakos, prayer, priest, sin
offering, temple)
Sadducees 30, 106, 113, 126,202, 284n
Samaritans 34n, 44, 48n, 189n
Satan (see devil)
Scapegoat 29, 31
abused 31,88-89, 152-159,
Barabbas as 165-171
as Catalyst 176-179
confession on 60, 113, 167-170
cursed 94, 108, 152-159
as demon 79, 85-95
human beings as 116-117, 130, 140,
165-171,330
killed 31, 114, 152-159
sending away 31, 89, 94, 96n, 104,
444
113, 152-154, 158, 159-160, 169,

174-179,206
and suffering servant 116-117
(see also goats, Jesus, pharmakos,
red ribbon)
Seder Avodah 28, 59-64
and Christian liturgy 335-336
and polemics 284-288
in the Second Temple period 43-45,
59--<i2, 161,212,223
in Siddurim 50
(see also reenactment)
Septuagint 15-16,94, 102-106, 110,
113, 117, 125, 200
Servant of God 116-117, 176-178, 226
Seth 336
Shaharit 49, 50n, 55, 60n
Shernihaza 86, 89-92, 121, 128
Shim'on Ish Mitzpeh 20
Shmuel (Amoraite) 53
Siddur 49-50
(see also Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on,
Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga 'on)
Simeon 244, 246, 255-256, 323
sin(s)
beginning of86, 94, 121
collective 115, 124, 314
end of88, 94
hereditary 139
history of 43, 86, 89
secret 39, 58,201, 337-341
types of89
(see also golden calf, iniquity,
Joseph, transgression)
sin offering 28n, 29, 32, 61, 128, 152,
191,214,223,286
sinless 108, 178, 184,286
sleep (see abstinence)
Socrates 291
sorrows (see afflictions)
soul 107, 108n, 109-114,240-243,313,
329
Sozomenos 291-293,295
Spirit, Holy 42, 152n, 173, 174,219,
254,271,316
spiritualization (see allegory,
templization, typology)
sprinkling
apocalyptic texts on 84
ashes and water 29
blood 24, 29-31, 81

in Christian worship 272, 300
Hebrews on 180, 187-189, 191, 193
Philo on 108, 112-113
in polemics 179
Rabbis on 126-127
Romans on 198, 200, 203
in Seder Avodah 59--60, 127
Stephen 205, 224
Sukk:ot 70n, l20n,
in Qumran prayers 39n, 41,
Christian polemics against 295
confused with Yom Kippur 68-69,
250, 253-255,
and the Encaenia 294-296, 297n,
298n,301-302
and the Fast of September 312, 318319,
and Palm Sunday 296n
and the Temple dedication 123,
and Zechariah 326n
Sunday 218,285, 295n, 300n, 304,312
(see also Palm Sunday)
Susanna 343n
synagogue
non-Jews in 222, 273-277, 277mosaics 129
Yom Kippur ritual in 51--65, 127,
!56, 212,319-320
and temple ritual24-28, 32, 51, 120
templization 71-72, 278-279
(see also sacred space)
tabernacle 95, 150n, 182, 183n, 193,
238,318
Tabernacles (see Sukkot)
Tacitus 71n
Tamid 2ln, 29, 32, 177n
Targum
and confessions 51
liturgical use of 54, 100
on Melchizedek 91
in Qumran 46, 54, l 00,
translation technique 101, 102, 105,
106
temple
allegorization of 109-114
attitudes to 213-214,220-223,223225,244-257, 286
and church (see templization)
in Jerusalem 28-33, 82, 88, 99, 135,
141
heavenly 79-85, 134-139, 182-184,
229-243
in polemics 278-279
rabbinic interpretation of 124-131
reenacted in Seder Avodah 59-64
and synagogue (see templization)
(see also destruction of the temple,
Ortsgeist)
temple ritual28-33
(see also allegory, animal sacrifice,
high priest, incense, sprinkling,
typology)
templization 71,261,269-272,278279,296, 341
Tertullian
on the contemporary Yom Kippur
36,71-72,76-77,280-283
on fasting on Saturdays 307-308
typologizing Yom Kippur 156-161,
267,332
Thargelion 171
Thecla 343n
Theodotus 228-243
Tiberius 68n, 254
Tish'abe'Av249, 3lln
Torah
blessing of24
giving of 42-43, 55, 122, 124, 129,
140,210, 342-343
in temple service 25, 32
(see also exegesis, Haftarah,
reading)
transgression 39-40,51, 53n, 91n, 92n,
95-96,123,128,133-134,213,217,
268, 275, 286 (see also sin)
typology
of covenant institution 187
of high-priestly ritual 180-197,225,
445
230,265-266,271-272,320,328
of kapporet 197-205, 225
of ordination ofLevites 187
oframs 266
of Red Heifer 187
ofred ribbon 159-160, 165, 268
ritual implications of213, 219-223,
271-272,329,331
of sacrificial goat 148-161,225
of scapegoat 98, 138, 147-179, 206,
224,225,266-267,331
of tabernacle/temple 180-197, 271272,297,330
ofveil225
(see also allegory, exegesis,
templization)
Valentinians 3, 78-79, 84-85, 118,
126n, 137, 191, 22&-243, 329-330,
vidduy (see confession)
vigil (see abstinence, afflictions, high
priest)
visions of God
in apocalyptic sources 79-85
in gnostic sources 229-237
in mystical texts 110-112, 134-139
(see also dreams, high priest)
war
with Amalek 122, 124n
eschatological78, 87-88, 186
weeping (see afflictions)
white garments (see garments)
women, daughter 34n, 35-36, 75n, 95n,
96, 128, 171, 174, 292n, 235-236,
318,343n
Zechariah ben Qabutar 20
Zechariah, father of John 244,247,
250-255,256-257,322-328,332,
333
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Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra The Impact of Yom Kippur On Early Christianity The Day of Atonement From Second Temple Judaism To The Fifth Century 2003 PDF

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Daniel Sti:ikl Ben Ezra

Andreas StOkl and Herzeleide Stokl, born. v. Schlabrendorff

To cast so wide a net was possible only thanks to numerous scholars

I am most grateful to the dissertation's three judges, my Doktorvater

academic and personal hardships. What a privilege to have had them as

Origen, Homily on Leviticus 9: I :1 (SC 287:70).

Shira Vehlow, Evelyn Vitz, Ewald Volgger, Zwi Werblowsky, Annette

more than words can express.

from the beginning of the task to its completion. In countless cases he

Daniel S!Okl Ben Ezra

Brief Table of Contents

Yom Kippur in Early Jewish Thought and Ritual

The Impact of Yom Kippur on Early Christianity

Chapter 4: Yom Kippur in the Early Christian lmaginaire.................

The Impact of Yom Kippur on Early Christianity

Detailed Table of Contents

I. The Topic and the Research Question.........................................

2. Methodological Remarks and Definitions...................................

Yom Kippur in Early Jewish Thought and Ritual

Detailed Table of Contents

Detailed Table of Contents

3.4 Pagan and Christian Descriptions of Contemporary Yom

Conclusion: Yom Kippur in the Greek Diaspora ........................

The Impact of Yom Kippur on Early Christianity

in the First and Second Centuries

Chapter 4: Yom Kippur in the Early Christian Imaginaire :

Account of the Passion? John D. Crossan's Thesis .... . 161

Detailed Table of Contents

Detailed Table of Contents

6.3 The History ofTraditions.................................................... 223

Chapter 6: Yom Kippur in Jewish Christian Legends..........................

The Impact of Yom 'Kippur on Early Christianity

General Conclusions........................................................................... 329

Appendix: Yom Kippur and Eastern Anaphoras.................................. 335

Names of Qumran Writings

Series of Church Fathers and Classical Literature

The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to

cyclical repetition of rituals shapes the conceptions of time and place of

impact on early Christianity be detected in Christian literature and liturgy?

the participants; the recurring commemoration and reenactment of myths

a great deal of emphasis on the public display of religiocultural

To determine the most important areas of impact, and because no one

has previously investigated the impact of Yom Kippur as a complex of

widely as possible. I therefore considered the Greek, Latin, Syriac and

perceptible to observers. 6 Festivals, then, are an appropriate focus also to

elucidate the gradual separation process of two religions such as the

studies. 7 Surprisingly, however, the impact of Yom Kippur on early

the first generations of Jesus' followers. Yet unlike Passover, Pentecost or

prefiguration of a Christian one, the present work should be seen as an

My central thesis is that Christian atonement theology and its festal

Bell, Ritual, p. 120 (emphasis added).

Part 3 analyzes the impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the years

The first mode is connected to the collective memory of Judaism. Jew-

ish "converts" to Christianity brought with them their imaginaire, their

appeared in the fourth century during the Christianization of Palestine,

approximately contemporary with 10 Tishri and show some affinities with

three Christian festivals, the Jerusalem Encaenia/Exaltation of the Cross,